Sonic Adventure 2: Battle Mixup
by Krissey-da-Cougar
Summary: What would happen if eight kids were taken inside their Nintendo Gamecube? Mika, Tia, Kogome, KT, Raquel, Rachael, Destiny and Bridget are those eight kids, and now have to live the adventure of Sonic Adventure 2: Battle.
1. Chapter 1

Some say that everyone has a purpose; a purpose that exposes the real character inside them. You have your own purpose that exposes the real you. There are many different purposes; some go in the same footsteps as others. But, there is no other purpose that hath shown characters inside that is more extraordinary than that of eight special kids. Their character was shown in the way that is unthinkable, unimaginable. And yet, it was true. Yes, eight kids: Bridget, Destiny, Kogome, Mika, Tia, Rachael, Raquel, and last but not least, KT, all had gone threw their purpose. The best part about it is their courage that they showed, and the undying friendship that they had for one another. This is their story…

It all started one evening at Mika's house. She had invited all her friends over for a birthday slumber party. That's right. It was Mika's birthday, and I'm sure no one was more excited than her. She had her Nintendo Gamecube out for some fun, but it seemed as though only two people would get to play. Let's start there…

"Oh, why do you always beat me?" complained Destiny as the violet controller slipped out of her hands. Her green eyes were fixed on the screen.

"Because, like I said, I am the king of video games!" KT boasted proudly, holding an orange controller.

"Yeah right! Well, pretty soon, your reign will last no longer as Queen Destiny conquers Sonic Adventure 2: Battle!" Destiny exclaimed, grabbing her controller back from the kind and gentle palm of Rachael.

As they began to play for the sixtieth time, Rachael walked back to her seat among the bean bags. Everyone else who was invited also sat in a bean bag, watching the two competitors battle once again.

"Will they ever stop playing?" whispered Bridget in the ears of Mika, who was sitting beside her.

"I don't know, I hope so," Mika replied honestly.

"Me too," agreed Tia, who was lying on her bean bag. The black-haired girl was sitting to the left side of Bridget.

"Well, good luck with that!" Kogome informed, sitting cross-legged on her bean bag.

Raquel, who was sitting beside Kogome, appeared confused. "About what?"

Kogome looked at the small-for-her-age, light-brown haired girl. "About wishing for them to stop playing," she replied.

Raquel gave an 'o' expression and then turned her attention back to KT and Destiny playing.

Tia started to get impatient. "Will you two stop playing? This is the sixty-fourth round!"

"No," KT and Destiny said simultaneously, their eyes never leaving the screen.

A noise outside Mika's bedroom window captured Raquel's attention.

"Well," she said, "It seems that the weather agrees with your attitude."

For a moment, everyone took the time to see that a storm was raging outdoors.

"Back to the game," KT suggested, turning the game back to playing, after it had been paused.

Tia sighed in frustration.

"Alright! That's it! I am going to play whether anyone likes it or not!" Bridget exclaimed, leaping up out of her bean bag.

The blonde-haired girl stomped toward the Nintendo Gamecube. She got a good grip on KT's controller and started pulling it out of his hands.

"Hey!" KT complained, pulling back.

"I like your style, Bridget!" Tia agreed, and started pulling on Destiny's controller.

"Hey, no fair!" Destiny whined, pulling back.

"Guys, stop! We can take turns!" Mika suggested.

"Mika's got a good point, why don't we listen?" Rachael suggested.

Destiny muttered through clenched teeth, "I would if _somebody _would stop pulling on my controller!"

"It's not your controller!" replied Tia.

"Whatever!" Destiny exclaimed.

Kogome and Raquel looked at each other and shrugged. They didn't want to get in the fight, and it seemed like a good idea not to.

"Stop fighting!" Rachael insisted.

Nobody would listen.

Meanwhile, Kogome heard someone yelling behind Mika's door, and stood up to hear better.

"Kogome, what's the matter?" Raquel asked, standing up beside the sandy-haired girl.

"I think I heard somebody," Kogome replied.

"Who?"

"I don't know."

"What did it sound like he/she was saying?"

"Something like we need to turn off the Nintendo Gamecube because of the storm," Kogome said.

Raquel shrugged. "What do you suppose she was really trying to say?"

"I don't know. But I don't see why we have to turn the Gamecube off. It doesn't make-" Kogome stopped short in sudden realization.

Her hazel eyes opened wide, and so did Raquel's hazel ones. They immediately turned to the others and yelled, "EVERYONE! TURN OFF THE NINTENDO GAMECUBE BEFORE WE—"

Too late. A lightning bolt outside struck real hard on an electrical post, not too far away, and caused an electrical surge to come through. All eight kids were immediately electrocuted, even the ones who weren't holding on to a controller. They screamed out in pain, but no one could here them because of the loud thunder outside.

Soon, when the shock had stopped, all eight of them fell to the floor, unmoving and barely breathing. The power had gone off, so they couldn't get electrocuted anymore that night. Nothing moved in the room. Everything was still; even the bodies of our eight heroes seemed to be not even living. You might be wondering what has happened to our heroes. Well, their very own soul was transported into the Nintendo Gamecube. Yes, they were taken _inside _the devise. But we must continue were we left off.

Our heroes were transported to different places in Sonic Adventure 2: Battle. One of our heroes was found in a peculiar way…

Sonic the Hedgehog seemed to be having the time of his life. What was he doing? Oh, he was running. As usual. The wind flying through his quills was the feeling that he had grown to love. The beauty and relaxation of the day had been interrupted when something caught his eye. The blue hedgehog immediately stopped running and turned to see an unconscious figure lying by a tree.

Sonic ran off of the road by the figure, just to make sure it was okay and in good health. When he got closer, he could tell it was a female. Funny thing was, he couldn't tell what kind of animal it was. She had brown fur, with a black T-shirt with a skull on it. The animal also wore jeans and had dark brown hair that went to her knees.

"Hello, you awake?" Sonic asked, shaking the female.

The animal's eyes fluttered open, and she groaned.

"What hit me?" she asked, sitting up.

It was then that she noticed who had awoken her. Her emerald eyes opened wide, and Sonic was confused at her expression.

"What?" he asked.

The female was too stunned to speak.

"I….uh….I….I…hubba, hubba!" she exclaimed.

Sonic was even more confused. "'Hubba, hubba?' What kind of language is that?" he wondered.

The blue hedgehog waited for a reply, but none came. "Okay, I think I'll start. I'm Sonic. Sonic the Hedgehog. What's your name?"

"I…." the female looked down at brown self, and looked as if she were about to scream at the top of her lungs.

"You're 'I'? That's a weird name!" Sonic admitted.

The girl shook her head, and found the courage to say, "It's…it's not my name. My name is…."

She was about to say 'Destiny' when she knew that she was no longer human. She was now her made-up character!

"My name is Jet," she said, sounding like she had a frog in her throat.

"Do you need a lozenge?" Sonic wondered, noticing the dry voice.

"No," Jet cleared her throat, "I'm fine."

"You sure?" Sonic asked.

"Positive," Jet said.

Sonic shrugged, "Okay."

Standing up now, Sonic reached out a gloved hand for Jet to use.

Jet just stared at the gloved hand.

"Aren't you going to get up?" Sonic asked.

"Uh, yeah, I guess," Jet said, grabbing the hand firmly.

Now standing up on her legs, Jet took the time to glance at herself and her surroundings.

"Where am I?" Jet asked.

"I take it you're not from around here," Sonic guessed.

"Nowhere near here," Jet corrected.

"Well, you are in Station Square!" Sonic announced.

"St-station Square!" Jet exclaimed, her eyes opening wide again.

"Yeah, is there a problem?" Sonic wondered.

"'Is there a problem'! Of course there is a problem! I am supposed to be on Earth! Not inside some video game that I can't even beat!" Jet shouted.

"Okay! Okay! Calm down and tell me everything…." Sonic suggested.

"Well, it's a long story. I think I should wait till I find…." Jet's voice trailed off.

"What?" Sonic asked, not liking the silence that had started after Jet stopped talking.

"The others! Kogome, Raquel, Rachael, Tia, Mika, Bridget and KT! I wonder if they were transported here, too!" Jet exclaimed.

"Okay, I am lost. You _have _to tell me what happened, or else I don't think I can help you with whatever is wrong," Sonic said.

Jet took a deep breath. "Okay," she said, "but we have to make this quick, who knows what the others are doing right now!"

As she began the story, she silently added in her head, _'Or who they are with right now.'_


	2. Chapter 2

We must leave Jet for now, and go visit how two of our other heroes were found. Let's see…

Knuckles and Rouge stared at each other for what seemed like a thousand years. Each one was on a different side of the Master Emerald, and it didn't seem like one of them would give up their position for one second.

"Alright, Rouge, this has got to be the thousandth time we've been like this! Just go away and find some other jewel!" Knuckles exclaimed.

Rouge shook her head. "No way!" she said, "I've lost this emerald once, and I'm not going to lose it again!"

Knuckles sighed in frustration, and continued to stare in silence. Suddenly, that silence was shattered as what seemed like an oval-shaped portal erupted out of nowhere. The two animals' heads turned instantly, facing the portal.

"Whoa!" Rouge said, amazed by the light-blue glow of the portal. "What in the world is this?"

"I don't know, but if it's going to take the Master Emerald, I won't let it!" Knuckles said bravely.

"You mean MY emerald," Rouge corrected as her paws fell on her hips and she gave a side-ways glance at the red echidna before looking at the portal again.

Knuckles just shook his head, and wondered why some people could be so ignorant of the truth. Just then, the portal started to close, but instead of turning back into nothing, it took shape in two creatures. Knuckles and Rouge had their mouths hanging open in this strange spectacle.

For a minute, the figures were just the same light-blue as the portal, and looked as if they were in a curled-up ball position. Then, the creatures began getting color, and more detail, like what clothes they were wearing.

One of the figures turned out to be a light blue hedgehog with its super-long quills in a pony-tail. From the looks of it, Knuckles and Rouge knew it was a female. The hedgehog was wearing blue jean shorts, green tang-top and white tennis shoes.

The other figure turned out to be a teal-blue echidna, with strange clothing. The clothing seemed somewhat familiar to Knuckles, since it looked somewhat like Tikal's clothing. Her dreadlocks were much thicker than Knuckles', and she had a tan bandana wrapped around them at the top. As you can see, it was a female, too.

Once the spectacle was over, the two figures uncurled and just laid there on the ground, unconscious. Knuckles and Rouge stared in astonishment. It wasn't until five minutes later, something broke the uneasy silence. It sounded as if someone was singing a tune, with the only words being "ta-ta." The voice got louder, and soon enough, a red echidna, much like Knuckles, except for the crescent moon-symbol on his chest which was upside-down, came a walking up to the amazed creatures. That red echidna was known as Muscles (probably because he is strong!).

At first, the red echidna just walked right in front and passed the echidna and bat. A second later, Muscles stopped, and just stared in front of him confused. He had also stopped his 'song'. He then back-tracked his steps, and stopped between Knuckles and Rouge. Muscles just looked at Knuckles and Rouge, confused.

Then, he raised both of his arms, and waved his paws in front of their faces, exclaiming, "HHHHEEEEEELLLLLLLLOOOOOOOO! Anybody in there?"

Rouge shook her head out of her trance as Knuckles, annoyed, grabbed the flailing arm, and pushed it to Muscles side.

"Whew! For a second there, I thought you two had seen a creature made out of nothing, or something! Ha! Like that would happen! Wouldn't it be funny if it would? Ha!" Muscles laughed.

"You don't know how right you are," Rouge muttered.

That made Muscles stop his fun, and looked at Rouge curiously. "What do you mean?" he asked.

"She means this!" Knuckles answered, grabbing the other red echidna's head with his paws, and turning Muscles around to face the unconscious hedgehog and echidna.

"So?" Muscles shrugged.

"They came out of nothing!" Knuckles exclaimed.

Muscles raised an eyebrow.

"You mean a shining oval," Rouge corrected.

"A shining oval? Sounds weird," Muscles commented.

"You bet it was!" Knuckles informed, letting go of Muscles.

"Are they okay?" Muscles asked, concerned.

"How am I supposed to know?" Rouge asked.

"Well, there is one way to find out!" Muscles informed, and started walking towards the females.

"No! Don't!" Knuckles yelled, and closed his eyes, prepared.

Rouge watched as Muscles knelt down before the fallen figures.

"Psst, hey, are you okay?" he asked, shaking the echidna.

"Hmm…wha-?" she mumbled, slightly opening her hot pink eyes.

"I asked if you were okay," Muscles re-asked.

The teal echidna now had her eyes fully open and stared at Muscles, before she screamed, and rolled out of the echidna's arms, which had propped her up.

The echidna, now on her hands and knees, looked at Muscles side-ways with her hot pink eyes wide with fright. She was breathing real heavily, and was going to scream again.

"Hey," Muscles said, a bit surprised. "I only wanted to know if you were—"

She screamed again.

"I'll take that as a yes," Muscles added, closing one eye.

"This is going well," Knuckles whispered to Rouge.

Just then, the hedgehog behind Muscles muttered, with her eyes still closed, "Five more minutes, mom…"

The teal echidna screamed again, and that made the hedgehog jump high in the air and yell, "Okay! I'm up! I'm up!"

The echidna immediately stopped screaming because she recognized the voice.

"…B-Bridget?" she asked, breathless from all the screaming.

"What?" Bridget asked, turning to the teal echidna.

"HOLY COW!" she yelled, scooting back a bit.

"Wait! You two know each other?" Muscles asked, standing up now.

"DOUBLE holy cow!" Bridget corrected herself, at the sight of Muscles.

"Bridget? Is that you?" the echidna asked again.

By now, Muscles had stepped back, in hope that these two could answer their own questions.

"How do you know my—Rachael?" Bridget wondered, looking back at the echidna.

"That's me; at least…I think it is…" Rachael said, looking at her new self.

Bridget's eyes were open wide. 

"Please don't scream, my ears have had enough," Muscles silently pleaded.

"WAY PAST COOL!" Bridget exclaimed, jumping up.

"What do you mean?" Rachael asked.

"Don't you get it? We have become our made-up characters in a dream! Isn't this cool?" Bridget asked, jumping up and down.

Rachael stared in disbelief, but it slowly came over her that it was a dream—at least, that what she thought.

"Made-up characters? Dream? This is no dream!" Muscles corrected.

"I almost wish it was," Knuckles muttered.

Muscles gave the other red echidna a glare before continuing, "We are real! Hello! This is real life! No dream; life."

Bridget stopped jumping up and down and stared at Muscles. Rachael was about to scream again.

"What are you saying?" Rachael asked, trying to keep calm.

"I am saying that wherever you guys came from, you guys were transported here by something…at least. That's what I heard from these two," Muscles said, looking over his shoulder to the two, grinning innocently animals.

Rachael's eyes opened even wider as Bridget was about to go ballistic.

Rachael scream at the top of her lungs again as Bridget began bouncing up and down, as happy as ever. So you see, Bridget and Rachael are completely different. Anyway…

"I can't believe this is happening! This is so totally wicked! Awesome! Amazing! Magnificent! Unbelievable!" Bridget kept on saying.

"This is REALLY going well," Rouge whispered to Knuckles.

"Don't start," Knuckles warned.

"Hey, what's going on?" a familiar voice demanded.

Instantly, everyone stopped what they were doing, and turned to see a familiar blue hedgehog with a brown animal-of-some-sort walk towards them.

"Sonic! Man, am I glad you're here! These two have just come out of nowhere! And now one of them is screaming while the other is going to bounce off the walls! And—Oh! Who's she?" Muscles asked, referring to the new animal.

"Her name is Jet, and she's come from Earth unto our world," Sonic introduced.

Bridget and Rachael looked at each other. The name sounded familiar…

Muscles was REALLY confused. "Okay, I am lost, will someone please tell me what is going on?" he asked.

At that instant, Jet recognized the two other heroes. "BRIDGET! RACHAEL!" she exclaimed, and ran towards them.

Rachael screamed and scooted off while Bridget stayed put.

"How do you know who I am?" Bridget asked, curious.

"Well…" Jet took a minute to catch her breath. "If I tell you that my real name is Destiny, will you believe me?"

"DESINTY!" Bridget exclaimed.

Instantly, as quickly as a lightning bolt, Jet's paw covered Bridget's mouth. "SHH! Sonic knows me as Jet. I need to keep it that way," she said as her paw feel back to her side.

Bridget thought for a minute about what her friend just said. "Does that mean I should be known as Shani?" she asked, recalling her made-up character that she created.

"Perfect," Jet said, giving the 'okay' signal with her hands.

"Cool!" Bridget exclaimed, happy.

"And for our Rachael…" Jet started, turning towards the teal echidna.

"I…I have no clue what is going on…"Rachael asked, feeling for a minute as if she were lost.

"Didn't you name your character Maya Eva the Echidna?" Jet asked.

Rachael nodded, "Yes I did."

"Then that's going to be your name! Here, at least," Shani added.

Maya Eva ran that name through her head many times before standing up finally.

Muscles stared open-mouthed at how quick Jet had gotten the two newcomers to settle. As the three walked back, he asked, "HOW IN THE WORLD DID YOU DO THAT!"

Jet shrugged. "I guess you could say I have my ways," she said.

Muscles took a deep breath and shook his head as Knuckles and Rouge came over to the group.

"Okay, now that we are a group, let's introduce ourselves. I don't think things went well at first," Jet assumed.

"You have no idea…." Knuckles muttered.

"Anyway," Rouge poked her elbow in Knuckles' side, and said, "I'm Rouge."

Bridget and Rachael looked at each other excitement was sparkling in each of them. Jet only smiled, even though she was also glad that this was really, truly happening.

"I'm Knuckles," Knuckles said, rubbing his side, "…ow…"

"Name's Sonic," Sonic introduced.

"I'm Muscles," Muscles informed.

"I'm Jet," Jet said.

"I'm Maya Eva," Maya Eva replied shyly, getting accustomed to her new name.

"And I'm Shani!" Shani introduced happily.

"Weren't you guys calling yourselves different names?" Knuckles wondered.

"Uh…yeah, but those are nick-names…" Maya Eva replied, blushing.

"Oh, that makes sense," Sonic said.

"Well, now that we know each other…WILL SOMEBODY PLEASE TELL ME WHAT IS GOING ON?" Muscles asked.

Jet laughed. "Okay, I'll tell you, hold your horses…" And for the second time that day, Jet explained what had occurred previously.


	3. Chapter 3

It was breezy and sunny as Tails took his X-Tornado out for a test flight, just to see how it's doing.

"Well, everything seems to be okay," Tails said approvingly. "Guess I can just relax."

Tails made the X-Tornado fly for a while, and enjoyed the fresh breeze. He closed his blue eyes and set the X-Tornado in autopilot. Then, his hands found the way to the back of his head as he rested, taking a small nap.

Suddenly, a queer sound awoke him, sounding like a lightning strike, and he sat up with a start.

"What was that?" He wondered, looking around him. The sky was cloudless, so, what was going on?

At first, his eyes past it, but then, they wandered back to where he could see a little black dot falling. Tails squinted, hoping to see better. Soon, he realized it wasn't just an object, it was an actual Mobian!

"Uh-oh!" Tails said, and quickly set the plane back to manual controls.

The smart fox sped the X-Tornado up a bit, and maneuvered towards the falling creature.

"Hold on…I'm coming…" Tails thought, even though the creature couldn't hear him.

Time was running short, and in a few minutes, Tails knew, the creature would fall into the ocean and drown! It was up to Tails to save it…

Tails had to get lower to the ocean, and he did, carefully piloting with great skill.

"Come on…" Tails urged, "We're not going to make it…"

In a flash, when the creature was about five yards from the water, Tails caught the creature and held it tight as he ascended into the air again.

"Phew, that was a close one," Tails said, closing the top of the cockpit.

The fox turned the plane back to autopilot, and took the time to study the person who he saved. It seemed to be a hot-pink hedgehog with long quills that hanged down. Tails could already guess it was a female. She had bangs that were the same color as her fur that just hanged in front of her forehead. Strange as it may sound, the female wasn't fully hedgehog. She was half-robot!

At first, Tails thought she was a creation of Eggman's. No, he decided, she couldn't be. Eggman wouldn't leave a robot half animal and half robot—would he?

The two-tailed fox decided to ask the half-robot half-hedgehog creature later, when she woke-up…whenever that would be.

"But, first" Tails thought, "I've got to tell Sonic about this."

Meanwhile….

"I'm hungry, can we get some ice cream?" asked Shani as she, Jet and Maya Eva walked down the sidewalk. Sonic, Knuckles and Rouge had stayed at Rouge's apartment to talk about something privately, and the three girls from Earth weren't allowed to hear it. Muscles had decided to volunteer and guard the Master Emerald for Knuckles, so, everyone was doing something…Except for Shani, Jet and Maya Eva.

"That is like the thousandth time you've asked that, Shani!" Jet said, a little irritated.

The light blue hedgehog shrugged. "So?"

"My point is that you need to keep your mouth shut or else we get no ice cream!" Jet threatened.

Maya Eva stopped dead in her tracks.

Jet and Shani stopped a few footsteps ahead of her and turned to face the teal echidna, confused.

"What's wrong, Eva?" Shani asked.

"If I'm not mistaken…" Maya Eva started with her hot-pink eyes wide open, "I think that Jet said…." Her eyes now were sparkling with delight, "That we ARE going to get ice cream!"

Shani's mouth dropped open as she turned to Jet. "Really?" she asked, excited, almost jumping up and down and clapping.

Jet sighed, seeming to be the leader of the three-some so far, "Yes, you found my surprise."

"YAY!" Shani jumped for joy.

"But!" Jet said, raising a paw. "On one condition…"

"And that is?" Maya Eva asked, keeping her excitement inside, even though it showed in her hot pink eyes.

"That I'll race you guys to the ice cream parlor!" Jet challenged, and started running down the sidewalk, laughing.

"Hey! No fair!" Shani complained as she ran to keep up with Jet.

"What?" Maya Eva asked.

Then it struck her. "Oh, hey guys! Wait for me!" Maya Eva wailed.

Jet laughed. "Last one to the ice cream shop is a rotten egg!"

Just then, Jet noticed that Shani had just passed her with amazing speed!

"Hey!" Jet complained.

Shani smiled, "You should have created Jet to run faster!"

Jet smirked. "I did."

And the two lightning-fast girls speed to the ice cream parlor, dodging this way and that, trying to not knock over anyone else. Soon, the whole sidewalk became clear as everyone knew that these girls were racing. As the two sped on, a song ran through the air:

_Rolling around at the speed of sound,_

_Got places to go, gotta follow my rainbow! _  
_Can't stick around, have to keep moving on,  
Guess what lies ahead, only one way to find out!  
Must keep on moving ahead,  
No time for guessing, follow my plan instead.  
Trusting in what you can't see,  
Take my lead I'll set you free._

Follow me, set me free,  
Trust me and we will escape from the city.  
I'll make it through, follow me.  
Follow me, set me free,

_Trust me and we will escape from the city.  
I'll make it through prove it to you._

Follow me!  
Oh yeah!

Danger is lurking around every turn,  
Trust your feelings, got to live and learn.  
I know with some luck that I'll make it through,  
Got no other options, only one thing to do!  
I don't care what lies ahead,  
No time for guessing, follow my plan instead.  
Find the next stage, no matter what that may be.  
Take my lead, I'll set you free.

Follow me, set me free,  
Trust me and we will escape from the city.  
I'll make it through, follow me.  
Follow me, set me free,  
Trust me and we will escape from the city.  
I'll make it through prove it to you.

Follow me!  
Follow me!

Jet and Shani skidded to a halt in front of the ice cream parlor, out of breath. Both of them had their hands on their knees, and were trying to catch their breath.

"You know," Shani said, "You're a great runner."

"Thanks," Jet said, turning to Shani, "You're not so bad yourself!"

As the two stood up, now having caught their breath, they heard panting behind them. They turned to see Maya Eva, still running towards them.

When she arrived, the teal echidna leaned on Shani's shoulder to catch your own breath.

"How…can you guys…run…so…fast?" she panted.

"Don't you remember? We created our characters with the ability of speed," Jet explained, hand on hip.

"And you didn't…" Shani guessed.

Maya Eva narrowed her eyes. "Don't rub it in."

The teal echidna stood up straight as Jet sighed and turned to the friendly-faced man in the window. 

"Yes, and how may I help you?" He asked in a slight-Italian voice.

"Yeah, I want a Chocolate-Chip Cookie Dough ice cream cone, please," Jet requested.

The man nodded and turned to the echidna and hedgehog. "And what may I get you?" he asked.

"I wanna Double Chocolate Chip ice cream cone!" Shani exclaimed, happily.

The man smiled at her eagerness, and asked the shy echidna, "And what about you?"

"Uh, well, I'd like a Mint Chocolate Chip please," Maya Eva asked.

"Okay, we got chocolate-lovers here, that will be…" the man told Jet how much it was going to be and the brown-furred animal nodded approvingly.

Maya Eva and Shani found a bench to sit while Jet started to bring over the ice cream.

"Ah, nothing like ice cream on a hot summer day," Shani said, licking her chocolate-goodness ice cream.

Maya Eva paused and looked at Shani confused. "Shani, how do you know it's summer?" she asked.

Shani shrugged. "I don't," she replied, "I guessed."

"Lucky guess," Jet muttered.

The girls continued eating their ice cream until a strange sound was heard. It sounded like a semi truck's horn.

Maya Eva stopped eating and looked up and down the street. No sign of a semi at all!

"Uh, guys, didn't you hear that honk?" she asked, a little worried.

"Yeah, I did, but I bet it's normal," Jet said.

Maya Eva nodded, but wasn't convinced, she still kept a sharp eye open for anything suspicious. After all, one can't be too laid-back, can they? Well, guess when you are around Sonic, its okay…But Maya Eva had the feeling that something wasn't right.

"Guys, something's not right," Maya Eva said, turning to the other two animals.

They looked at her as another honk was sounded, this time, louder. Their emerald eyes quickly scanned what was beyond their teal echidna friend…And it was not a comforting sight.

Their eyes widened, and Maya Eva said, "What? Am I right, is something wrong?"

Jet was the only one with enough courage to speak, "You don't know how right you are!"

Maya Eva finally, with a confused look on her face, turned around and gasped.

A large semi-truck was coming toward them—full throttle!

Maya Eva froze with fear, and suddenly, something—or someone—pushed them out of the way and yelled, "GUYS! MOVE IT!"

"AH!" Maya Eva screamed as her wrist was grabbed by an unknown saver and pulled speedily to safety. Shani and Jet ran with the equal amount of speed, and ran on either side of the teal echidna being pulled by the stranger.

Seemingly enough, the voice sounded familiar.

Her hot pink eyes opened wide with remembrance. "KOGOME!" she yelled in delight. Maya Eva looked up and saw that Kogome looked almost exactly like the character Shadow! Except, she had a dress like Amy's, and it was red with a black lining and had boots like Amy's, except with a hover-device on the bottom, like Shadow.

The-now-look-alike-of-Shadow took a quick glance at Maya Eva and winked before speeding up again. Jet and Shani ran by the side of their friend, already knowing that it had been her. Since Maya Eva couldn't run as fast as the other three, she was pulled by Kogome.

The truck still chased them through town, and soon, the three runners were getting weary.

That allowed the truck to get closer on them—and closer to Maya Eva who was "hanging" behind. 

"Guys," she said as she saw the black truck inch closer.

They couldn't hear her. "Uh, GUYS!" Maya Eva yelled as the truck was REALLY close now.

Kogome, Jet and Shani looked behind them and gasped. 

"We've got to lose them somehow!" Shani insisted.

They looked at Jet, who seemed to be their leader. The brown animal smiled. "No we don't, we have to fight them."

"What do you mean?" Kogome asked.

"Look ahead," Jet gestured.

The two looked ahead and saw a bridge that the large semi couldn't go under without crashing into it.

"Jet, you're a genius!" Shani exclaimed, forgetting about the 'fight them' part.

As they passed under it, the semi crashed into the bridge, and luckily, it didn't fall down.

Maya Eva laughed as they skidded to a halt, while the others smiled at the truck triumphantly.

"What's so funny?" Kogome asked.

"That was fun!" Maya Eva said.

Soon, Shani joined in.

Kogome noticed something odd, going on at the truck.

"Uh, guys?" she said.

"What?" they said in union, and looked ahead to see a big, robot of some sort fly out of the back of the truck.

"What is that thing!" Maya asked, terrified.

"I don't know, but it doesn't look good," Jet informed, taking a fighting stance.

"What was your first clue?" Shani asked as she too decided to take a stance.

"I think it was the three white letters on the truck," Kogome replied honestly, pointing to the trashed vehicle.

The girls looked at it, and screamed in union, "G.U.N.!"

The big robot they saw earlier landed in front of them with a loud **Thud. **

Maya Eva fell on her bum in fright.

"Well, Jet, what's the plan?" Kogome asked.

"Remember in the game, when Sonic had to battle this robot in the beginning?" Jet replied.

Kogome nodded.

"Well, I think he had a pretty good idea, so let's follow that one, kay?" Jet said.

"Gotcha," Kogome winked, and was ready to battle it.

"We have targets spotted, will proceed," the machine buzzed.

"I never knew we'd be in THIS position!" Shani said.

"Girl, NONE of us knew we'd be in this position!" Kogome informed.

Maya Eva was still sitting down, frozen with fear. This thing had to be eight times her size!

All of a sudden, the robot fired missiles as them, and Kogome, Shani and Jet jumped out of the way, while Maya Eva rolled out of the way.

"Okay, here I go!" Kogome shouted, and did a homing-attack.

Once Kogome landed, after bouncing off and doing a great deal of damage, since she hit the head, she landed perfectly on her feet.

"Whoa," was all the Maya Eva said.

"THAT WAS TOTALLY WICKED! MY TURN!" Shani announced, and did her own homing-attack, also causing damage.

Shani landed perfectly, and as soon as she did, she yelled, "THAT WAS SO MUCH FUN!"

Jet decided it was her turn to have fun, and picked up a nearby crate, and threw it at the head.

"Nice one, Jet!" Kogome congratulated, giving a thumbs-up.

"Thanks," Jet winked.

The robot struggled, but was soon ready to continue fighting.

Maya Eva was still scared, but as the others continued fighting, she had this longing to join in. _But what can I do?_ She thought. Suddenly, she remembered something.

"The Rainbow Crystal!" she exclaimed to herself, and pulled out of a small bag in her pocket a crystal that was about the size of her fist, and she gripped it tightly. There were different colors swirling in it, making it have a rainbow-look.

It seemed to have warmed-up in her palm, and shined brighter. But, there was still fear in Maya Eva that made her stay in her seated position.

All of a sudden, a cry of pain rang out, and Maya Eva's head snapped up to see Shani blown back by a blast from the robot.

She gasped, and so did Kogome and Jet.

"Shani!" Jet called.

No answer. Shani was unconscious.

That angered Maya Eva, even though that brought fear to Kogome and Jet. The teal echidna stood up bravely, having a warm and firm feeling rush through her.

"You are going down!" she shouted, and held the crystal up as it floated a few inches above her hand.

Suddenly, it glowed a bright light, and the robot was pushed back by an invisible force.

The crystal fell back in Maya Eva's palm, and the teal echidna stood in shock at what she just did.

The robot got back up though, and Shani remained down.

"Well done, Eva!" Kogome complimented.

Maya Eva was still in shock and just stared.

The robot, suddenly, started walking towards her!

"Move, Eva!" Jet yelled.

Maya Eva stood, frozen.

"Yo! Why don't you pick on someone you remember? Like me!" shouted a familiar voice.

The robot stopped, and everyone turned to see Sonic, Knuckles, Rouge, Tails and that new girl.

"You!" the man gasped, pointing at Sonic, who blew off his fingernails (even though they were hid by gloves) and acted casual.

"Glad you remember me," Sonic said.

"This is Big-foot to headquarters! The REAL target is spotted, what shall I do?" the man said into an intercom.

"Fight like a man, not a chicken," not Sonic suggested.

"This is headquarters, capture real hedgehog, if not, get a hold of one of them," the headquarters said, and the others couldn't hear what it said, only the man.

"Roger that," the man ended.

"So, what you gonna do?" Sonic asked, casually.

"That's for me to know and for you to find out!" the man grinned evilly.

"Scatter!" Sonic commanded his team.

Rouge, Knuckles and Tails nodded and jumped for safety.

The new girl ran away, to the only friend that she could distinguish, the unconscious Shani.

"Bridget?" called Tia (the new girl) as she held Shani in her arms.

Shani didn't answer, only breathed quietly, which Tia was thankful for.

The battle raged on, and it seemed that the whole crew was winning.

After a while, it seemed as though the robot could only take one more hit.

"I think I can do this, guys," Sonic said, and did a homing attack, which finished the robot.

It fell to the ground defeated, and everyone jumped for joy. But none was heard louder than Kogome, Jet and Maya Eva. They couldn't believe they actually had their first battle-and won!

"Bridget?" Tia called again.

Everyone stopped rejoicing, and turned to see Shani held in Tia's arms.

"Tia, is that you?" Kogome asked.

The pink hedgehog nodded, and looked again at the wounded light blue hedgehog.

"Hey, is everything okay?" asked a kind voice.

They turned and saw a neon green echidna with an outfit like Tikal's, without the necklace and crown, purple headband, hair tied up in ponytail, gloves like Amy's, silver sandals, and had a green messenger bag to finish it, walk towards them.

"I don't know," Tia replied, honestly.

"Let me see," the echidna offered.

"First tell us who you are," Jet suggested.

"My name is Jade, now let me see her," Jade said.

Kogome gripped Shani's wrist, and suddenly gasped.

"What?" Rouge asked.

"Her heartbeat stopped!" Kogome exclaimed.

"NO! Shani!" Maya Eva yelled, and hugged the light blue hedgehog.

"Let me see her, I may be able to help," Jade offered again.

"How can we trust you?" Maya Eva asked through tears.

"…You can't. You just have to, or else, do you want your friend to die?" Jade asked.

Maya Eva finally let go, and let Jade hold her. The echidna let the hedgehog lay on the ground and put a hand on Shani's forehead.

Jade closed her eyes and concentrated.

Everyone gathered around and watched.

Suddenly, Shani moaned and her eyes slowly opened and blinked before everything came into focus.

"What hit me?" she asked.

"SHANI! YOU'RE BACK!" Maya Eva exclaimed, and hugged Shani with all her might. Even though they were completely different, remember, opposites attract! So, in other words, Maya Eva and Shani were best buds, and couldn't picture one without the other—almost like sisters!

Shani was a bit confused, and then laughed.

"What's so funny?" Kogome asked.

"Her!" Shani pointed at Maya Eva, "She's acting like I died! Or went away forever! I was only out for a few mintues!"

"You! No, you weren't! You were out for what seemed like an eternity!" Maya Eva argued.

"No I wasn't!" Shani said.

"Were too!"

"Were not!"

"Were too!"

"Were not!"

"Were too!'

As the argument roared on, the others laughed, also glad that their energetic friend was back.

Jade snuck away, figuring it was time to move on, but someone wasn't finished.

"Hey, you know it's rude to just say hi and leave without saying bye," someone said behind Jade.

The green echidna turned to see Jet, leaning on a building with her arms crossed.

"What do you expect me to say?" Jade asked.

"I expect you to listen while I say thank you for saving my friend's life," Jet retorted.

Jade smiled, "Your welcome."

As Jade was about to continue her never-ending journey, Jet said, "Oh, and let's just keep it between you and me that I said thank you, kay?"

Jade let out a short laugh, "Sure, see you."

"Bye."

Jet watched as Jade walked out of sight, then walked back to the group, who was laughing their heads off—even Knuckles.

"I never said that I was excited about being here!" Shani said.

"Ah, but you wanted ice cream!" Maya Eva informed.

"Speaking of ice cream…What happened to ours?" Shani asked.

Knuckles turned around, and laughed. "I think I found your answer!" he exclaimed, and pointed to the truck. There, on the windshield were three ice cream cones. Each one had a different flavor. One had chocolate chip cookie dough, another had mint chocolate chip and the last one had double chocolate chip.

Everyone laughed even harder, and as Jet laughed, she looked up at the sky and saw stars brightly shining. This truly was a night not to forget, but their adventure wasn't over yet. But, there was one thing that Jet knew: They still had to find KT, Raquel, and Mika, but, they were ready no matter what the challenge may be.

"So, I think I better say that my name is Mira," Tia said and winked to her friends from Earth.

"Nice to meet you, Mira," the others said one at a time.

"Oh, and I'm wondering, who are you?" Sonic asked, pointing to Kogome.

"Oh, my name is…" she was going to say 'Kogome', but since everyone else was going by their fancharacter's name, then she might as well, too.

"I'm Darkness," she offered.

"Hi," all of them said one at a time.

"Okay, so, Jet," Tails said, turning to the brown animal who was still staring at the night sky.

Jet was snapped out of her thoughts, and she turned to the little, two-tailed fox. "What?"

"What are we going to do about the other three?" he asked.

"Well, we better find them, who knows where they are," Jet said.

"But it's night time," Shani yawned, "And I'm sleepy."

"But the others could not have a place to stay for the night!" Maya Eva informed.

Darkness shook her head. "Knowing those guys, they probably already found a place to sleep, trust me—trust them."

"Darkness has a point," Jet informed, "We have to trust them, and find them tomorrow."

They nodded, but the girls realized that Sonic, Knuckles, Rouge and Tails weren't with them!

"Where did they go?" Mira asked.

Maya Eva shrugged.

"Wait! I think I see them!" Darkness informed, pointing at the ice cream parlor.

"HEY! NO FAIR! I WANT ICE CREAM!" Shani yelled, and raced to the ice cream shop.

"But you already had yours!" Maya Eva exclaimed.

"So!" Shani shouted back.

"Well then that means I get another Chocolate Chip Mint!" Maya Eva said, and ran to the shop.

"Ice cream sounds good!" Mira said, and ran to the ice cream parlor.

Darkness looked at Jet, "Can she eat ice cream?"

"Who? Mira?" Jet wondered.

The ebony hedgehog nodded.

"Sure, what kind of question is that?" Jet laughed.

"Well, she did create Mira to be half-robotic, so, are you sure?" Darkness checked.

"Almost positive, but we better be there—to get some for ourselves before they buy out the whole shop!" Jet informed, and ran off with amazing speed to the shop.

Darkness sighed, and ran after Jet, also wanting some.

That ended our heroes' first day at the new world, but, the question is: How are our other three heroes doing? Well, the five girls have yet to find out—which is another sub-adventure of this huge one.

That night, everyone slept at Sonic's house, like a slumber party. Some were glad that Amy wasn't invited, but they knew that she would pop-up. Oh well, right now, let's let them enjoy their ice cream.


	4. Chapter 4

Brown eyes opened to the new world of Sonic. This creature was a white Seal and wore an orange shirt with blue jean shorts and white tennis shoes.

"Ow, my head…" she mumbled as she sat up. She then took the moment to scan her surroundings. She was in a forest and had been laid against a tree.

That's funny. She didn't remember last night ending by resting against a tree. In fact, she wasn't in a forest last night! As the Seal's brown eyes drifted to the forest floor, her mind had a flashback…

Flashback

The same white seal woke up with a start, and found herself in almost pitch-black darkness. There seemed to be a little glow in her surroundings, and from that glow she could tell she was in a cave.

"Wh-what happened?" she wondered as she stood up.

Her small paws started dusting off her shorts absent mindedly when she noticed something.

She stopped for a minute and brought her paws up to her face. All of a sudden, she started shaking.

"Wh-what happened?" she stuttered again.

The seal quickly checked herself over, and sure enough, she was her made-up character.

"I-I'm no longer Mika…" she realized. "I'm not even home!"

"Or anywhere NEAR that!" Mika added.

She started shaking uncontrollably with fear. Mika calmed herself down by saying, "This is all just a dream. There is nothing to be afraid of…At least…I don't THINK so…"

"Oh…." Mika started shaking again. "What am I going to do? I'm far away from home, in a new body, in some strange cave, and probably never going to come back!"

Tears started to form in Mika's eyes. "Oh…" Suddenly, tears started falling down her cheeks as she fell to her knees shaking and crying.

"Oh Jesus…Please help me!" she begged between sobs, and her voice started to sound sore.

Suddenly, a light illuminated where Mika was. "Huh?" she wondered, and looked up.

What she saw made her gasp. It was a familiar black hedgehog with red stripes down his quills, arms and legs.

He looked at her with stern, crimson eyes.

"Sh-shadow?" Mika asked.

Shadow's eyes looked as if they had seen a familiar face, and then went back to their solid selves.

The hedgehog remained silent.

What had illuminated the cave was the lantern he was holding.

"How did you find me?" Mika asked, her voice sounding less sore.

Shadow didn't answer. Truth be told, he didn't want to say that he had heard her tears and her prayer.

"I just did," he said.

Silence had followed for a few minutes before Shadow started walking towards the cave's entrance.

"Wait!" Mika cried.

Shadow stopped and turned around, not wanting to wait for long.

"What?" he asked.

"Uh…Can I go with you?" Mika replied shyly.

"No," he answered firmly, and was about to continue as a strange rumble shook the roof of the cave.

Mika gasped and looked up. The top was breaking!

A few rocks had already fallen, and Mika started running towards Shadow.

Shadow was at the entrance of the cave and was about to leave Mika behind when he looked back. His heart wouldn't allow him to go any further without helping the poor seal. Her foot was caught under a fallen rock and she had tripped, and was weeping silently, scared. She knew she was going to be killed with this cave-in.

The last thing Mika saw was Shadow running towards her to help.

Flashback ends

"Did my head get hit by a rock?" she wondered as her paw searched her head. As she came to a point that was on the top right hand area, she winced. Yep, she got her answer.

"So, I see you're awake," mumbled a familiar voice.

"Shadow!" Mika exclaimed, turning to see the black hedgehog standing there with his arms crossed.

"How did you know my name?" he asked.

"I-I….I just did," Mika replied.

"Don't play games, how did you know my name?" Shadow said.

"I can't tell you!" Mika replied.

"And why not?" Shadow asked.

"I don't know!" Mika yelled.

"Oh, so, why can't you tell me?" Shadow said.

Tears formed in Mika's eyes again. This time, it wasn't fear, it was complete confusion.

"I don't know why I can't tell you! But I just can't because I don't know what's going on!" She curled up in a little ball and hugged her knees and sobbed. "I'm so lost…" she quietly added.

"I don't have time for this," Shadow muttered and grabbed his brown backpack.

Mika stopped weeping and looked up with a tear-stained face. "Are you going to leave me, Shadow?"

Shadow froze. Those words…

"Shadow?" she asked again.

Shadow shook his head out of his thoughts. "No, not with that ankle of yours," he said, not even glancing at Mika while trying to pack up his supplies. There was something about that seal…

"Oh, well, thank you, Shadow," Mika replied, blushing a little.

Shadow froze again. Thank you! No one has ever said thank you to him! Except…except Maria…

Shadow shook his head once again and mumbled quietly (not forgetting his manners), "You're welcome."

Mika didn't hear, and Shadow was glad.

As he finished, he stood up and threw the bag's straps over his arms and over his shoulders.

He turned to Mika and asked, "What's your name?"

"My name is…MJ," she hesitated.

"MJ?" Shadow shrugged it off. Weird name, but hey! You got to expect that!

"What's in the bag?" MJ asked.

"None of your business," Shadow replied.

This was going to be difficult. MJ was a female, and yet, something inside Shadow urged him to take the seal along, but the seal couldn't walk! So that meant….

No way! Shadow shook his head. He ain't doing that!

"Shadow, what's wrong?" MJ asked.

Those words again!

"Nothing, but…." Well, there wasn't any other way to do it.

Shadow sighed as he leaned over and picked up MJ in his arms to carry to Eggman's base.

"Shadow!" MJ gaped, surprised that such a hedgehog would do this!

"Just be quiet and sit still; we have a long way to go," Shadow mumbled.

MJ wondered where they were going, but kept quiet. _'Man,' _she though, _'This is one crazy night! Or day!' _

Meanwhile….

Amy Rose sighed as she walked down the sidewalk. There was nothing to do. No sales, no Eggman (yet), no Sonic…The pink hedgehog sighed again as she thought of her blue hero.

"Oh Sonic," she said into the air while tossing her head back, "Where _are _you?"

Unfortunately, Amy couldn't see a small, white hedgehog with a Sky Blue sleeveless dress with white neck cuffs, white gloves like her own except with black rings, shoes like Cream's except they were Sky Blue and black, Sky Blue eyes and black bangs that seemed to cover her left eye walking straight her way!

Before Amy knew it, she was on her bum in the middle of the sidewalk. _How embarrassing, _she thought, _I got too caught up in daydreaming that I didn't look to see a banana peel on the sidewalk._

Then, she heard a kind voice say, "I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to hurt you!"

_Okay, maybe it wasn't a banana peel, but that doesn't explain why I can't see anything! _Amy thought.

Oh wait….she was closing her eyes. Her bad.

Amy opened her green eyes to see the same white hedgehog looking at her with her Sky Blue eyes.

"Can I help you?" Amy wondered, standing up.

"I-I just wanted to say that I am sorry for bumping into you, I was busy looking for my friends," Raquel (the white hedgehog) replied.

"Oh, so you're lost?" Amy asked again. Well, helping someone find their friends is better than just walking down the sidewalk doing nothing, she figured.

The white hedgehog nodded her head.

"Well, first, let me introduce myself, I'm Amy Rose," Amy said, and held out her gloved hand.

Raquel was so excited, and tried to keep it in, but it didn't work. She was almost jumping for joy.

"Um, my name is Ra—" Raquel stopped herself, remembering to say her made-up character's name. "—Krystal." She continued.

Amy seemed a little confused, then seemed to understand her name was 'Krystal', not 'Ra-Krystal'.

The two shook hands as a greeting, but Krystal's grip seemed to be a little too firm.

"Um, Krystal," Amy informed, "You're hurting my hand."

"Oh, sorry!" the white hedgehog quickly blushed. This was SO cool!

"You can let go now," Amy added.

Krystal immediately broke the handshake and blushed harder.

"Why are you acting so excited?" Amy wondered.

Krystal replied, "Because, I never met a star in person before!"

"A star! I'm not a star!" Amy protested.

"Well, it's kind of a long story," Krystal replied with her head hanging and the front of her shoe tracing a circle on the ground.

"Okay, you can tell me later, because I'm searching for someone else, also!" Amy informed.

"Who?" Krystal asked as her head snapped back up.

"My darling Sonic!" Amy exclaimed, giving a little jump.

Krystal's smile got bigger, "Maybe we can help each other!"

"Good idea!" Amy agreed, "With two people with good eyes, we should be able to find them in no time!"

One hour later….

"You were saying?" Krystal asked as they walked down another sidewalk.

"Well…That's just how Sonic is. He never stays in one spot, and when I find him, I take my chance," Amy said, disappointed.

"We need a better way to find them rather than just walking around Station Square," Krystal figured.

Amy stopped walking and stood, thinking. Krystal kept walking, not realizing that Amy had paused for a moment.

Thankfully, Krystal wasn't too far that she couldn't hear Amy snap her fingers.

"AH!" she screamed and jumped a few inches off the ground, startled.

"I have an idea!" Amy announced.

"What is it?" Krystal asked, excited, and ran over to the pink hedgehog.

"See that stage over there?" Amy inquired.

Krystal looked at the area where Amy was pointing.

"It looks old," she commented, noticing that the stage was of medium size and was a little dusty.

"It hasn't been used in a while, and it used to hold the ceremonies when Sonic would save the world!" Amy informed.

"Oh cool!" Krystal exclaimed, then realized something. "How is that going to help us find Sonic and my friends?"

Amy smiled. "We get to sing a song that will attract Sonic and your friends here, then we will have found them!"

Krystal gave Amy a scared look. "No way! I am NOT getting up on stage and singing!"

Amy informed, "But they, meaning your friends, know your voice and how you sing, they will be able to find you faster!"

Krystal was still scared.

"Hey, I'll do the main singing, kay?" Amy asked, hoping to make her new friend feel better.

The white hedgehog seemed relieved. "Sounds good to me," she finally said.

"Alright, then let's do it!" Amy exclaimed, and grabbed Krystal's wrist, almost dragging her onstage.

"Wow," was all Krystal said as she surveyed the back stage area. Her heart was thumping wildly because of her fear to be in front of a big crowd, but if she was going to find her friends, then, this might as well be the way to do it!

"Okay, that seems set," Amy informed, walking up to Krystal from tinkering with something.

"What seems set?" Krystal asked.

"The speakers. They are ready to begin when I say so," Amy explained, giving a thumbs-up.

"Uh, what song are we singing?" Krystal wondered as Amy walked passed her.

"We are singing my favorite song in the world. In fact, it was written by and for me," Amy said, digging into a closet.

"What's it called?" the white hedgehog inquired.

"It's called, _My Sweet Passion,_" Amy replied, pulling out two brooms.

"But before we sing, we need to make this place sparkling-clean!" she added, and handed Krystal a broom.

"You think we can do this?" Amy wondered.

Krystal smiled, "I know we can!"

Meanwhile…

"I GIVE UP!" KT sighed miserably. His friends were nowhere to be found, and here he was, stuck in his made-up character's body and in a totally different world.

"This has got to be the WORST day of my life!" he mumbled, looking down at himself once more. He was a yellow fox with two tails, like Tails. He had blue eyes, like Tails, and almost everything like Tails!

KT sighed again. "Well," he said, "Might was well start the name Lee running through my head…"

Lee was the name of his made-up character, and he wanted to be sure he was ready in case anything happened.

"Excuse me?" asked a kind voice asked.

KT opened his blue eyes to see a hedgehog that amazingly looked like Shadow. Except, it was a female and had light blue jeans and a red halter top!

"What do you want?" KT asked, not necessarily snappy, but a mixture of surprise and just-the-way-he-is.

"Well, you don't have to say that. But I heard you complaining about giving-up," the female hedgehog said.

"Yeah, so?" KT shrugged.

"Giving-up is not allowed in my book!" the look-a-like-of-Shadow replied, crossing her arms over her chest.

"Who ever said I had to follow your book?" KT inquired.

"No one, but I just thought that if you want to survive against Egg-head, you might want to learn to never give up!" the hedgehog said, before getting ready to run away.

"Wait! What's your name?" KT wondered.

"Sarah," was all she said before running off.

KT seemed puzzled as Sarah ran off. Sarah? There wasn't a Sonic Adventure 2: Battle character named Sarah. He shrugged. Probably just another inhabitant of Station Square, he figured.

As the now-fox started walking again, he heard someone call his name.

"KT!"

Wait, KT wasn't his name anymore, remember? The fox walked on, trying to ignore the familiar calls.

Finally, the same someone called his fancharacter's name.

"Lee!"

This time, he turned around and saw Darkness running towards him.

"Kogome!" Lee exclaimed, glad to see someone who he actually remembered, finally.

The black and red hedgehog stopped to catch her breath before continuing, "You won't believe all who I saw!"

"Try me," Lee mumbled.

"I met Sonic, Knuckles, Rouge and Tails!" she exclaimed happily.

"At least you were lucky, I met someone by the name of Sarah…" Lee informed. Not sounding 'oh-wow' about it.

"Hey, at least you met SOMEONE. It could have been worse," Darkness said.

"Like who?" Lee asked.

"Eggman," the hedgehog replied simply.

"And besides," she added, "Sarah couldn't have been that bad."

"I guess you're right…actually, I think she helped me," Lee informed.

"How?" Darkness asked, already knowing the answer. Darkness always had the skill to make people see the good in others.

A smile started to spread on her face as Lee continued, "She helped me realize to not give-up."

The fox looked at the smiling hedgehog, "What?"

"Nothing," Darkness said, dismissing her thought.

"Did you find any others?" Lee inquired.

"In fact, yes. They are all asleep at Sonic's house…But, by now they should be awake," Darkness replied.

"You found Rachael, Bridget, Raquel, Mika, Destiny, and Tia!" Lee exclaimed.

"Well, we haven't found Raquel and Mika yet…But the others we found. Oh, and to give you a heads-up, I realize that you didn't respond to 'KT' and only 'Lee'. So, since we are going by our fancharacter's names I better tell you theirs'. Bridget is Shani. Rachael is Maya Eva. Tia is Mira. Destiny is Jet. And I am Darkness," she explained.

"Okay," Lee said, then added, "But what about Mika and Raquel's names?"

"I remember theirs' are MJ and Krystal," Darkness recalled.

Lee nodded. "Well then, let's find them!"

Darkness nodded, but before they could go any further, a sound erupted from behind them, yelling, "Darkness, Lee, come here!"

The two turned to see Jet waving them over. Soon, they found themselves having been introduced to everyone else, and been shown a stage.

"Something is fishy…" Sonic said.

"What do you mean?" Maya Eva asked.

"I don't think he is meaning Eggman," Knuckles muttered.

"Definitely not Eggman, that mad-man wouldn't make a dusty stage look clean!" Sonic informed.

Everybody looked. The stage _was _clean.

"So?" Lee asked.

"This thing was dirty earlier today," Rouge informed.

"And why would that bother anyone? It seems like a nice thing to do!" Shani exclaimed.

"That's just it!" Tails said, "No one we know would clean a stage like this!"

"At least…" he added. "No one else except…"

"DON'T SAY HER NAME!" Sonic pleaded.

Jet realized who it was. "AMY!" she exclaimed without thinking.

"I told you not to say her name!" Sonic informed.

Suddenly, the curtain opened and two figures stood. One pink, the other white.

The kids from Earth recognized instantly who the white hedgehog was…."RAQUEL!"

"Ah!" Shani screamed. "It's the season of the unordinary!"

"What was your first clue?" Maya Eva asked as a familiar song began to stir from the stage…

_Amy: I got out my map and chose a place I wanted to go to…_

_Krystal:(whispering) …Packed up my stuff, set out for adventure…_

_Amy: I know that your lucky color is that cool shade of blue…_

_Krystal:(whispering) …Won't mind painting myself blue for you..._

_Amy: I guess I'm so easy to understand; _

_Both: I just do, what ever comes to me naturally…_

_Amy: I do understand the feelings of a Persian Cat…_

_Krystal: (whispering) …But the Sphinx looked so cute I had to shave it..._

_Amy: He reminds me of parsley when he's standing there all alone…_

_Krystal: (whispering) ...Makes me wanna be his speciality..._

_Amy: I guess I'm just a self-centered girl_

_Both: But there are nights that I have trouble going to sleep!_

_Krystal: Sweet sweet you're so sweet_

_Amy: So many things I want!_

_Krystal: Sweet sweet you're so sweet _

_Amy: I wanna be a wonderful girl!_

_Krystal: Sweet sweet you're so sweet_

_Amy: I'm not simple-minded!_

_Krystal: Sweet sweet you're so sweet_

_Amy: And I won't be a pearl!_

_Both: You probably need me just as much as I need you!_

Krystal and Amy did some cool moves as the music did its solo, shaking their shoulders and criss-crossing this way and that.

"I didn't know Amy could sing!" Sonic complained.

"NOBODY did!" Rouge informed.

"I didn't know Krystal had the courage to get ONSTAGE!" Jet exclaimed.

Soon, they continued their song…

_Amy: Are you okay you seem to be a little bit tense…_

_Krystal: (whispering) ...You don't have to worry 'bout a single thing..._

_Amy: We are free to get whatever that we want to have…_

_Krystal: (whispering) ...We're also free to do whatever we want..._

_Amy: That's what we'll do, yeah, that's what we'll do!_

_Both: We should live our lives the way we think it ought to be!_

_Krystal: Sweet sweet you're so sweet!_

_Amy: There's no where to hide!_

_Krystal: Sweet sweet you're so sweet!_

_Amy: Come on settle our lives!_

_Krystal: Sweet sweet you're so sweet!_

_Amy: I'll always be there for you!_

_Krystal: Sweet sweet you're so sweet!_

_Amy: In the best and worst times!_

_Both: You can be my sweetest honey for eternity!_

_Krystal: Sweet sweet you're so sweet_

_Amy: So many things I want!_

_Krystal: Sweet sweet you're so sweet _

_Amy: I wanna be a wonderful girl!_

_Krystal: Sweet sweet you're so sweet_

_Amy: I'm not simple-minded!_

_Krystal: Sweet sweet you're so sweet_

_Amy: And I won't be a pearl!_

_Both: I honestly need you just as much as you need me!_

As the song ended, Krystal and Amy were leaning on each other's back. Back-to-back.

Silence had followed, but not for very long!

Suddenly, a loud roar of clapping and whistling and yelling erupted from behind the Sonic Crew. They turned, and there was a HUGE crowd! (When I say huge, I mean HUGE!)

Amy and Krystal broke their pose and smiled. The pink hedgehog turned to the white hedgehog.

"We really make a good team," she commented.

"Yes we do!" Krystal agreed, and her eyes were sparkling so much that it was as if they were their own humongous stars!

Amy smiled, her own emerald eyes sparkling the same way.

Finally, after some time, the crowd dissipated.

When it was just the Sonic Crew and the kids from Earth, Amy and Krystal hopped down from the stage.

"Man, am I glad to see you guys!" Krystal exclaimed, running over to her friends.

"Krystal, you were awesome!" Maya Eva yelled.

Krystal blushed and said nothing.

Once the others were done saying their comments, Jet made her own: "Didn't know you had it in ya."

Krystal smiled and looked up at the chocolate-brown animal. "Thanks," she quietly said.

Jet winked. "Don't mention it."

"Well, now that we found each other…now what?" Shani inquired.

All of a sudden, as if in answer to her question, a scream was heard. It was Amy.

The seven kids turned to see a bunch of G.U.N. robots surrounding the Sonic Crew!

"Wait a minute!" Mira exclaimed, recognizing the robots immediately.

"Isn't this in…" Lee was about to say Sonic Adventure 2: Battle, when Darkness interrupted.

"It is…" the hedgehog nodded.

"Put you hands in the air!" the robots commanded, except, their lights weren't on the other Sonic Crew members…they were focused on the hedgehog in front. Sonic.

"We can't let them take him away!" Krystal yelled.

"We have to!" Jet informed.

"Why?" Mira inquired.

"That's the way the story goes…" was the reply.

Even though they longed to go and stop the G.U.N. members, they knew they couldn't.

They watched as the lights blinded Sonic and they, being the G.U.N. members, grabbed his wrists, firmly placing them in handcuffs. As they pulled the Sonic Crew members away from the blue hedgehog, they started leading him towards a small jet.

Sonic blinked his eyes to regain his view as Amy started crying. Tails only looked with fear in his eyes. Knuckles sighed and acted like this was no big deal. Sonic would get out, he just had to wait. Rouge did the same.

Sonic looked behind him at the others, and then, looked at the kids from Earth one last time before being shoved into the plane.

Even though the kids from Earth couldn't hear what the G.U.N. members had said to Sonic Crew, they got a pretty good idea.

Jet, Krystal, Lee, Darkness, Shani, and Maya Eva just saw Sonic looking at them before being pushed inside. But, Mira saw something else. She saw, in the emerald-green eyes of the blue hedgehog, strength.

Even though Mira was afraid for him, that never-ending flame in Sonic's eyes gave her the courage to just be patient, and wait to take action.

Although, as the plane took off, Mira wondered how long that would be…


	5. Chapter 5

Krystal felt a strong hand shake her out of her sleep. She mumbled something and sat up.

The white hedgehog waited a moment for everything to become less blurry, and then noticed who woke her up. It was Amy.

Earlier, they decided to spend the night at Amy's apartment, and wait until later to figure out what to do. Now, Krystal was wondering why in the world Amy woke her up at midnight.

"What is it, Amy?" Krystal asked.

"I can't wait any longer," Amy informed, now standing up.

"What do you mean?" Krystal wondered, standing up beside her new friend.

"I am going to Prison Island to rescue Sonic," Amy said, turning around to head to the door.

"Then why did you wake me up?" Krystal wondered.

"I said we were a great team, and I thought you would like to come along," Amy informed, now standing beside the door.

The white hedgehog smiled. "I wouldn't miss this for the world!"

"Then let's go!" Amy insisted.

Before Krystal knew it, she was standing beside Amy, and hiding behind a wall. The pink hedgehog was peeking out from behind it, trying to find a cargo plane that was heading to Prison Island.

"Hey, I think I found one!" Amy informed, and pointed to a plane that was being loaded with supplies.

"Great, then let's get in!" Krystal whispered, and when the place was clear, they ran inside and hid behind a large cardboard box.

"Whew, that was a close one!" Amy whispered, sitting down.

"Yeah," Krystal agreed, sitting beside the pink hedgehog.

They quietly breathed, and waited for the plane to take off.

"What's taking them so long?" Amy asked, impatiently.

Krystal shrugged, keeping her ears alert.

Suddenly, someone walked by. It was a G.U.N. member, checking the cargo.

"Uh-oh," was all that Krystal said before she and Amy stopped breathing, in order to not be heard.

It seemed like forever until the man was satisfied and they could breathe again.

"That was even CLOSER!" Krystal informed, closing her eyes.

"You mind telling me," Amy agreed, and sighed.

Soon, the plane started to take off, and Krystal gasped. She held on to Amy's arm without thinking in fear. Amy didn't seem to mind. As the plane steadied in the air, Krystal's grip weakened, but she still had her arms around Amy's.

After about ten minutes, Krystal closed her Sky Blue eyes, and rested her head against Amy's arm, falling asleep. Amy looked down at the small, slumbering hedgehog and smiled.

She seems so much like a little sister! Amy sighed, wishing she did actually have a little sister. Before long, Amy fell asleep, too.

Meanwhile…

Back at Amy's apartment, light sprayed across the floor, and reached the eyes of Miles Tails Prower.

He squinted open one eye, and quickly closed it. Why? Because the light was too bright, and it hurt his eyes.

Silently, he got up and rubbed his eyes, yawning. Then he opened his blue eyes and scanned the room. At first, his eyes passed it, but the second time, he noticed that Krystal, Amy, Knuckles and Rouge's sleeping bags were empty.

The fox shrugged, figuring that Knuckles had gone back to guard the Master Emerald, and Rouge went back to…what ever that bat does.

He also figured that Amy took Krystal shopping, or something, but wondered how Amy could forget what happened the previous night.

The fox sighed and walked towards the refrigerator, hoping to get a snack or something. When he opened the refrigerator door, the light inside the kitchen appliance, shined and met the e closed eyes of Shani.

Tails gasped as Shani moaned and rubbed her eyes. The hedgehog sat up, and then looked around after yawning.

The fox held his breath as Shani noticed that Krystal's sleeping bag was empty. Without thinking, she screamed.

The hedgehog immediately covered her mouth, realizing her mistake. There was no reason to worry! And yet, she just woke everyone up.

"Nice wake-up call, Shani," Maya Eva muttered, sitting up and blinking her hot pink eyes a few times.

"You welcome!" Shani replied smiling after uncovering her mouth.

The teal echidna just rolled her eyes and looked at the others, who also seemed to be waking up.

"Hey," Darkness noticed. "Where are Krystal, Amy, Knuckles and Rouge?"

"I don't know, that's why I screamed," Shani admitted while blushing a little.

Jet sighed. When could they have one night without someone leaving?

"Well, anybody up for breakfast?" Tails asked, trying to change the subject while holding up a carton of orange juice.

"Sure!" Shani said, running with amazing speed and sitting down at a table.

"Hey, I want breakfast, too!" Maya Eva exclaimed, sitting in a chair beside Shani.

"Count me in!" Lee agreed, and also sat down.

"I guess I'll have some!" Mira informed, taking a seat of her own.

Darkness and Jet looked at each other. "You hungry?" Darkness wondered.

"No," Jet replied. "Me neither," Darkness agreed, "I'm too busy thinking of how to get Sonic off of Prison Island."

"Well," Jet said, standing up beside Darkness, "The story goes that Tails went to rescue Sonic, so, we should just go with Tails."

"Good idea, but didn't Amy already try and go and rescue Sonic?" Darkness inquired.

Jet's eyes widened. "Yes…yes she did…"

Darkness looked at Jet. "Are you thinking what I'm thinking?"

"What are you two thinking?" Mira asked from the table.

"I think I'm thinking what she's thinking, what are you thinking?" Darkness wondered.

Mira shrugged her shoulders, completely not understanding one word Darkness just said.

"Well, what ever you said, I think we are thinking the same thing: That Amy took Krystal with her to go and try and save Sonic," Jet concluded.

"But if they went to do that, then that means that Eggman is going to find them, and Tails has to save them, and that they will be planting the bomb…" Darkness lost her sentence.

Jet nodded. Whenever Tails was ready to leave; that would mean the real adventure was going to start.

"Are you ready?" Darkness asked.

"What kind of question is that? I've always been ready to fight!" Jet replied.

"No, I mean, are you ready to lead us? You know we look to you as our leader," Darkness said.

Jet looked at the floor. "I guess…"

"What kind of reply is that? You guess? You need more confidence than that," Darkness said, and laid a hand on the chocolate brown animal.

"Don't worry, I'll be there for you, we'll all be there for you," she added.

"Thanks," Jet said smiling, and then added, "But, don't tell anyone I said 'thanks', kay?"

Darkness laughed. "Why not?"

"It's just not me, you understand, right?" Jet wondered.

Darkness nodded. "Of course, but we can't fight on an empty stomach, now can we?"

Jet smiled, "No, we can't!"

"Then let's eat!" Darkness informed, and sat down in a chair, ready to get her food.

Meanwhile…

It was dark and stormy as her surroundings became black. All she could hear was the constant rumble of thunder, and the shaking vibrations.

Then, it all formed into a figure in front of her. It was terrifying. Words can not describe what this…thing…was. It was black, and nothing could tell what it was. The only word she could come up with was: horrifying.

It opened its eyes. GREEN glowing eyes that seemed to pass right through her. She couldn't stand it. She ran. Her eyes looked behind her. The creature was chasing her. No matter how hard she tried, she couldn't find her way out. It was hopeless.

Suddenly, she tripped, and fell. She knew it was her death, so she turned to lay on her back…when she saw them. Her friends. All of them in a glowing color, each with indescribable majesty, looking like Queens and King (Lee).

They looked at her, as if waiting for something and just stood there as the monster took it's stance for a final blow…

MJ gasped and sat straight up in her chair, breathing harshly. Sweat trickled down her forehead as she tried to calm herself down.

Shadow immediately rushed in.

"What's the matter?" he asked.

MJ shook her head, trying to gather her voice. "It's nothing."

Shadow gave a practical look then turned and left.

MJ looked down at her small temporary bed. When she met Eggman, she was afraid, she had to admit. Since her ankle was sprained, they were going to leave her hear at the pyramid base until they come back from their mission. Their meaning Rouge, Shadow and that Egg-head. Even though they accepted her into the team, they didn't exactly trust her enough to tell her all that they were doing.

MJ closed her brown eyes and rested her head in her open palms, trying to clear her thoughts. What was the meaning of that strange dream? Did it even have a meaning? Of course it did! Why else would it include her friends? But then, since it did, what was the meaning?

"MJ!" Rouge called, flying in.

MJ looked up with curiosity. "What?"

"We are leaving for our mission. Be careful, and don't touch anything. We'll be back shortly," then the bat left.

After the ivory bat flew out of sight, MJ wondered why they didn't wait for a reply from her. Well, probably because they didn't trust her, she figured.

Soon, she heard a soft blowing sound. Probably them leaving, MJ figured. The seal waited for the sound to die away, and then slid the covers off of herself. _'This seal,' _MJ thought, _'Isn't going to sit around all day! She's going to do some exploring!'_

Grabbing a single crutch, she wobbled off, trying to get used to it. After a while, she decided it wasn't necessary, and dropped it off somewhere. Much easier, she figured.

The seal walked on, knowing that she'd find a whole bunch of secrets and yet, some more mysteries…

Meanwhile…

"Are you guys ready?" Tails asked, standing up from his chair.

The others looked at him curiously.

"What do you mean, 'are you guys ready'?" Mira wondered.

"I mean, are you ready to go rescue Sonic from Prison Island!" Tails informed.

Jet stood up. "What do you mean, 'are we ready'? Of course I'm ready!"

"Me too!" Lee exclaimed, standing up.

"Me three!" Shani said.

"Me four!" that was Maya Eva.

"Me five!" Mira said.

"And me six!" Darkness exclaimed.

"Well then, let's move it! We've got a hedgehog to save!" Tails yelled.

The two-tailed fox lead the team to the garage, where it held his prized X-TORNADO.

Lee whistled.

Mira looked at Lee shocked. "You didn't think the X-TORNADO would be THIS cool!"

"Of course I thought that the X-TORNADO would be this cool! I just never thought that I'd see it in person!" Lee informed.

Mira gave an 'oh' expression, then watched as Tails checked the engine…and so on.

The half-hedgehog half-robot shuddered, remembering her fall down to the ocean…and when Tails had saved her.

"What's wrong?" Lee wondered.

"Oh, nothing, just remembering," Mira replied.

Lee nodded, understanding.

"Okay, the X-TORNADO seems to be okay, but we have a slight problem…" Tails informed, stepping off of the plane.

"And what's that?" Jet asked.

"It can't hold seven people. I designed it to hold two…" Tails admitted.

"Well…now what do we do?" Shani wondered.

The group immediately started thinking.

"I've got it!" Maya Eva exclaimed.

"What? What?" Shani replied, jumping up and down, excited.

"Since some of us can fly, since we are echidnas-and fox with two-tails- we, who can fly, just fly there!" Maya Eva suggested.

"But it's a really long flight over there, you guys would get tired," Tails said.

The group sighed in disappointment.

"Well then, I guess we'll just have to face it: only one of us can go with Tails on this trip," Jet said, sadly.

"But, who should go?" Mira asked.

Shani thought. Then she exclaimed, "I think Lee should go!"

"WHAT!" Lee yelled in surprise.

"I agree," Darkness admitted, "After all, he IS the only one who hasn't fought yet."

"Darkness has a point," Maya Eva informed.

"Sure, why not?" Mira shrugged.

"Okay, then it's settled. Lee, you've got to go on this adventure, and don't worry. We'll be waiting," Jet winked.

Lee gulped then nodded.

"Good luck, dude!" Shani exclaimed, closing an eye and giving a thumbs-up.

"I know you can do it, Lee! Just be confident!" Darkness encouraged.

Lee nodded.

"Be brave and strong and know that whatever happens, we'll still be your friends," Mira said, knowing that some of the males at school never accepted him as a friend.

"Just focus and you should get the job done!" was all that Jet said.

"I don't think he can do it…" Maya Eva informed, and that silenced the others. The echidna smiled, "I KNOW he can do it!"

They resumed their smiles and laughed.

"Overall, just do well, kay? And FOLLOW THE STORY," Jet advised.

Lee nodded, "Okay, wish me luck!"

"I did!" Shani insisted.

Lee smiled at the always-cheerful girl and then hopped inside the seat in back of Tails'.

"You ready?" Tails wondered, already sitting in the front.

Lee took a deep breath and nodded.

"Okay, then we're off!" Tails started the X-TORNADO, and a gush of wind blew about.

"Bye, guys!" Lee waved at the others, who waved back.

The two-tailed fox watched as his friends shrunk out of sight, and then turned his attention to what was ahead. The simple words of Jet rang through his head…' Just focus and you should get the job done!'….

Silently, as he watched nothing but ocean below them pass, he added, _'Hopefully'_.

Meanwhile…

Amy took a deep breath as more members of the G.U.N. organization passed by.

"Coast is clear, let's move!" she informed to the white hedgehog beside her.

They had already successfully gotten off the plane, and now where making their way to the building which held the prisoners.

Krystal nodded, and the two hedgehogs raced across to the next steel box, which they quickly hid behind.

Amy's green eyes alertly watched as people passed by. She patiently waited, but Krystal didn't seem too patient.

"Are they gone yet?" she asked.

"No, be patient," Amy scolded quietly.

Krystal shut her mouth and tried to wait. For her, waiting wasn't easy…

"Are they gone, NOW?" Krystal inquired.

Amy was getting a little irritated.

"NO! NOW WILL YOU BE QUIET?" Amy whisper-yelled.

Silently, Amy turned her attention back to watching.

"NOW they are gone," Amy informed, and the two ran to the area which no men guarded, where they could just stand without hiding behind an object.

As they stood still, Amy surveyed the area.

"A-amy, I'm sorry," Krystal admitted.

Amy gave a half-grin, "Its okay, just be a little more patient, kay?"

The white hedgehog nodded, but before they could do anything else, a shadow towered over them.

An all-too-familiar voice said, "Well, well, well, what do we have here?"

Amy gasped, even though it was the terrified Krystal who was seeing the mad-man.

"Eggman!" she exclaimed.

Meanwhile…

"Lee, the news says that Sonic stole a Chaos Emerald from the bank. I know Sonic would never do that, but, do you think that's why he was arrested?" Tails called to his partner.

Lee thought for a minute. Wasn't that the way the story went? "Yeah, I think so…"

Tails was confused. "What kind of answer is that?"

"Well, I dunno…I guess I'm just not ready to take on an adventure…" Lee said.

"…You want to give up your position to someone else?" Tails asked.

Instantly, Lee had a flashback of what that strange hedgehog Sarah told him…

Lee firmly replied, "No, I know I can do this, I just know I can!"

Tails laughed. "That's the spirit!"

Lee smiled, but that smiled quickly disappeared as Prison Island came into view.

"Hey, isn't that—?" Tails was caught off as his own question was answered.

"It's Amy and Krystal!" Lee exclaimed.

"Yeah, and it looks like Eggman beat us to them! Get ready to make a grand entrance!" Tails warned.

Lee nodded, and got ready to hop out of the X-TORNADO.

"Yeehaw!" Tails yelled, and that was Lee's cue.

The two-tailed fox jumped out of the plane and landed perfectly between Amy and Eggman.

Tails landed the X-TORNADO right beside Lee, and transformed it so then it was a combat-machine.

"Way past cool!" Lee commented, feeling no fear at all. A strange feeling had erupted inside of him. It was the flame of courage that everyone feels when going on a daring adventure and that, my friends, is what keeps heroes going (like the energizer-bunny!).

"Gah! You little twirps! No matter, I'll finish you off myself!" Eggman challenged.

"Lee, you go see if Amy and Krystal are alright, I'll go fight Eggman!" Tails commanded.

Lee nodded, then turned and ran towards Amy and Krystal as Tails battled Eggman.

"Amy! Krystal! Are you okay?" Lee wondered.

"I am," Amy replied, "But, Krystal isn't here…"

"What!" Lee exclaimed, then looked. Amy was right: Krystal _wasn't _here!

"Where is she?" the fox asked.

"I don't know, she took off!" Amy informed.

"What do you mean, she took off!" Lee was getting worried.

"Right when she saw Eggman, she froze with terror! I had to pull her out of the way to move, and when we suddenly got trapped, surrounded against the railing, Eggman was about to fire when she screamed and ran out of sight!" Amy explained.

Lee didn't say anything. Raquel (Krystal) ran away? It didn't make any sense! All her life she had dreamed about adventure, and now she was running away from it? That couldn't be right? …Could it?

"We need to find her after we get Sonic, kay?" Lee suggested.

Amy nodded, close to tears.

"What's wrong?" Lee asked.

"Oh, Lee, it's all my fault! If I hadn't asked Krystal to come with me none of this would have happened!" Amy was about to cry.

Lee gave an exasperated sigh and grabbed Amy by the shoulders, shaking her and exclaiming, "GET AHOLD OF YOURSELF, WOMAN! IT WASN'T YOUR FAULT!"

When he stopped, he was still gripping Amy's shoulders, and Amy asked, "It wasn't?"

"No! You actually did a good thing! I think it was actually Krystal who wasn't ready to fight yet…" Lee admitted.

Amy looked at the ground. "I still feel guilty…"

"Well you shouldn't because I know that Krystal will be okay! And you should, too!" Lee advised.

Amy nodded, full of hope and then looked to see how Tails was doing. That smart two-tailed fox was, in fact, coming back victorious.

"Tails! You did it! You defeated Eggman!" Amy exclaimed happily, running to the two-tailed fox.

"Thanks, but he'll be back, just wait and see. Right now, we need to find Sonic! And, where's Krystal?" Tails wondered.

"She ran away, but we'll find her after we get Sonic," Lee instructed.

Tails saluted. "Yes sir!"

Lee smiled as he hopped in.

"Um, we have a problem…" Lee announced.

"Oh yeah…Well, guess she'll have to sit on your lap, Lee!" Tails taunted.

"Why not YOUR lap!" Lee exclaimed.

"I'm the pilot!" Tails said with a strange voice.

Lee rolled his eyes. "Fine, but I'm going to regret this…"

"Thanks, Lee! You're such a gentleman!" Amy informed, hopping on top of the fox's lap.

"Don't mention it…" Lee muttered with not much enthusiasm.

Amy giggled as Tails started towards the base, ready to free Sonic.

In a few minutes, Tails found himself and the X-TORNADO standing nearby an entrance to the room where Sonic was held.

"Who's going to get him?" Tails asked.

"I will!" Amy volunteered, raising her hand excitedly.

Tails looked at Lee to see if it was okay. Lee nodded.

"Okay, but just be careful. Me and Lee will meet you two outside the base, kay?" Tails instructed.

"Okay!" Amy replied, cheerful.

Lee was VERY grateful when Amy got off his lap.

He was about to jump for joy when he remember that if he did that, they would be discovered.

Amy carefully opened the door, and hopped down, ready to rescue her darling Sonic.

Tails closed the lid after her, and turned to Lee. "You ready to leave?"

"You bet!" was the reply, and the two made their escape.

Amy looked around with her green eyes for Sonic. Suddenly, she heard him call her name.

"Amy?"

Amy turned around and saw Sonic standing in a cell.

"Sonic!" Amy exclaimed, forgetting about being quiet.

"Sh!" Sonic hushed as Amy stopped in front of him blushing.

"Sorry," Amy apologized.

"Never mind that, what are you doing here?" Sonic asked.

"I've come to rescue you! Have no fear! Amy Rose is here!" the pink hedgehog quietly exclaimed.

Sonic rolled his eyes. "How did you get here?"

Amy smiled. "I caught a ride with Tails!"

Sonic shook his head. _Note to self, _he thought, _when we get out of here, I need to teach Tails about allowing pink girls getting a ride in his vehicles. _

"So, do you want out or not?" Amy asked, holding up the single key-card.

"What do you think!" Sonic whispered.

"I'll do it on one account…" Amy informed.

"And what's that?" Sonic said, not sounding very enthusiastic.

"If you marry me!" Amy exclaimed.

"NO WAY!" Sonic replied.

"Aw man! I thought I had you this time!" Amy complained, finally opening the cell.

Once open, Amy noticed something, and walked inside the cell. Her green eyes searched the walls, noticing all types of writing.

"Sonic? Did you write this?" Amy inquired.

Hearing no answer, she turned around to find no one there.

"Darn you, Sonic! Sonic!" Amy called, running.

Oh well, she figured, at least I know the way out!

Krystal ran for her life. NEVER had she been this terrified. She couldn't stop thinking of how cowardly she was; running away from the one thing she had dreamed of her whole entire life, and now it was all going down the drain. Guess she'll have to keep on dreaming…or did she?

Suddenly, her foot caught something, and she tripped. Luckily, she didn't twist her ankle or anything. The white hedgehog got to her hands and knees crying. Rain started to pour. And HARD. She wasn't crying out of pain, but of fear. What was going to happen to her? She had no clue where she was! Probably in some type of forest, she figured. Wait a minute…forests? Wasn't there—

A sudden sound interrupted her train of thoughts. It sounded like a twig snapping. Krystal gasped and turned around, searching in all directions desperately.

The white hedgehog stood up, and kept looking, fear filling her entire system. She was no longer crying, but her cheeks had dry tears on them and were stained.

Another twig snapping! Krystal started backing up. What was going on?

"W-who's there?" Krystal called out.

No answer.

Another twig gone in two.

Krystal's head turned left and right as she still stepped backwards.

She tried again; this time, with more firmness. "Who goes there?"

No reply.

Suddenly, Krystal reached a dead end. Her back contacted with something….soft. Not hard as she expected, but soft, like fur.

Shakily, Krystal reached out a hand to touch what it was. Sure enough, it felt like fur. Krystal's eyes widened in fear, but nothing scared her more than what the creature behind her said.

"Hello."

Krystal screamed and ran a few feet before turning around to see who it was.

She couldn't see anybody! Her heart beat faster in fear.

Suddenly, a black figure with red stripes on his quills walked out of the shadows. Krystal instantly recognized who it was.

"Sh-shadow?" Krystal asked.

The hedgehog just looked at her, a little mad.

"How do you know my name?" Shadow asked, threateningly.

"I-I…" Krystal couldn't talk.

Silence followed for two seconds until Krystal found the courage to say, "What are you doing here?"

"That's none of your business!" Shadow growled.

Krystal was surprised by Shadow's reply so much that she fell on her bum. Then, everything clicked.

Her sky blue eyes widened in realization. "No…no…." she muttered. She was terrified. Worse than terrified, but she was SCARED OUT OF HER WITS.

Krystal wanted to scream, but that wouldn't do anything, so she closed her mouth with her eyes getting watery. She knew what was going to happen, but she didn't know what to do about it.

Shadow was confused but remained silent.

Then, Krystal started thinking. What should she do? She knew she HAD to do something….

The hedgehog gasped as she knew what she had to do.

She quickly got up and started running away. Unfortunately, Shadow was one step ahead, and tripped her.

"AH!" Krystal screamed as she fell to the ground.

"You know about the bomb, don't you?" Shadow asked, standing beside the fallen hedgehog.

Krystal shakily got up to her hands and knees.

"Don't you!" Shadow demanded the truth out of her.

Krystal nodded while she was starting to cry.

Shadow looked at her before a sound caught his ear. He turned his head in the direction it came from. Krystal looked up at the ebony hedgehog. Silently, her heart prayed, "Dear Lord, _please _help me. I need to warn the others."

Then, almost as if as a reply, someone knocked Shadow off his feet! Krystal couldn't tell who; they moved too fast!

"Nice, Sami!" complimented someone.

"Thanks, I was working on that one!" replied a cheerful voice that Krystal figured was 'Sami.'

"Your welcome!" said the other person.

Krystal was too wrapped up in trying to find who was talking that she didn't notice someone walk up to her. "Hey, are you okay?" asked a kind voice.

Krystal gasped and looked up slowly to see a white fox that had red streaks on her fur and wore a short mini red skirt and a strapless shirt that said 'cutie'.

"Who are you?" asked Krystal.

"My name is Spicy. Yours?" asked the fox.

"My name is Krystal, and what happened to Shadow?"

"Oh, you mean that ebony-meanie? He's over there," Spicy pointed over to where Shadow was fighting 5 people at once.

"Whoa…" Krystal said in awe.

"Yeah, they're pretty good. Did you know we are a team?" Spicy inquired.

Krystal looked at the fox startled. "A team?"

"Yeah! See that red hedgehog over there? That's Boom. The brown hedgehog is Sami. She's our 'leader' you could say. The wolf is Renegade. He ALWAYS knows what to do, so you could say he's the advisor of the group. The hedgehog that looks almost exactly like Shadow is Carlos. Don't confuse him with Shadow. Carlos is nice. The hedgehog that is black and has blue highlights with barn owl wings is Coldwing. He is SUPER cool; never is one to back down on an adventure," Spicy introduced.

Krystal was too astonished to speak. "Whoa…" was all she could say.

Spicy smiled, "You better get going. We can take care of Shadow."

Krystal looked at Spicy and was about to protest when suddenly, Shadow's watch-communicator said with a familiar voice, "Shadow! What are you doing? Get out of there before the island blows-up with you on it!"

The fighters stopped.

"Blows-up!" Boom exclaimed.

"We need to get off the island NOW!" Sami yelled as Shadow made his getaway.

Coldwing growled but let the hedgehog run.

"He's getting away!" Renegade informed.

"But what is more important is being safe. We NEED to go!" Sami instructed.

They nodded.

"Well, looks like we've got to go! We would take you with us, but we really need to be on our way!" Spicy replied before running after her team.

Krystal watched as they ran and then sat there for a few moments confused before she silently slapped herself for wasting time. She HAD to warn the others!

The white hedgehog ran through the forest as fast as she could. She wasn't as fast as Jet or Sonic, but she could at least run.

Then, she tripped. As she got to her hands and knees, she scolded herself, "No time to be klutzy right now!"

Suddenly, a familiar blue hedgehog ran in front of Krystal. "Krystal?" Sonic asked, stopping beside the white hedgehog.

"Sonic!" Krystal exclaimed through the falling rain. "We need to get off the island! It's going to blow-up!"

Sonic's eyes widened. "Bow-up! Say no more!" The blue hedgehog grabbed Krystal and ran VERY fast towards the waiting Tails, Lee and Amy were.

"Krystal! We were worried about you!" Amy exclaimed, running to the now-nearby white hedgehog.

But the pink hedgehog stopped. "Krystal, you're…so dirty!"

"What!" Krystal asked and looked down at herself. Sure enough, she was covered with mud from head to toe.

"Lucky…" Lee muttered.

"Come on! We don't have much time! We need to leave the island NOW!" Sonic instructed.

Tails asked why and Sonic explained while Krystal, Lee and Amy got in the X-TORNADO. Luckily, there were more seats because Tails worked on there being more.

Sonic eventually got in and off they were, away from the island.

Right after they were a safe-distance away, _boom! _went Prison Island, torn to pieces.

Krystal slowly looked back at the raging fire and remembered what happened. To her, it happened in such a rush. The rain certainly fitted her mood. She wasn't happy at all. Not because she acted cowardly but because of what happened. The adventure she took on wasn't one of excitement. It was one of peril. It wasn't a happy adventure; it was a solemn adventure.

Well, Krystal figured. Every adventure has a twist to it; has a solemn part that is full of pure secrets being revealed and is no fun at all. And it just had to be her to experience it…


	6. Chapter 6

MJ limped from room to room and nothing seemed to be of interest to her, that is, until she came to a certain room. This one was odd: it only held a small and dusty desk. MJ walked over to it with curiosity filling her entire system. She stared at it at first, but then decided to open the drawers to see if anything was inside. After she had opened a few, MJ was beginning to doubt that this desk was of any importance. Finally, she found something. It was a book that looked years old. Picking it up, MJ decided to read it in her temporary bedroom, seeing that there wasn't a chair in the room.

Finally settled in her room after a long time of limping, MJ opened the aged book and began reading. After reading the first two words, she could already figure out what kind of book this was…

_Dear Diary,_

_I have lost track of days here on the ARK. Every day seems like the last: the same black blanket that surrounds our home, the same big blue beautiful planet that grandfather studies everyday. And those stars, they're magnificent! Being so bright and small, almost looking as if they were made to decorate the dull black blanket. Whenever I look at them, they give me a sense of…purity. Almost as if I were one of those stars…but that's impossible. I could never shine that bright for anybody, and even grandfather knows that. If only I could tell someone my true feelings…besides you, diary. If I could tell someone my feelings, then, maybe that person could shine for me! Maybe they could be my little ray of hope…Uh oh, grandfather is coming! I must go and hide this so he doesn't think bad of me!_

MJ stopped after she read the first day in the diary. This didn't seem like Prof. Gerald's diary, as MJ had suspected! In fact, it was like this was written by Maria… MJ was excited. This was something that she couldn't miss! Reading on, MJ started to get more and more excited about this adventure…

_Dear Diary,_

_I am sorry about yesterday's incident. I didn't mean to have you closed immediately; I just can't let grandfather know about my true feelings. Why? Who knows what he could do…and that's why I am afraid of him—at times. Other than that, he is the kindest grandfather anyone could ever have. He created this ARK for us to live on, and he also made a room especially for me! Do you want to know what is inside the room? _

MJ nodded, even though it wasn't Maria talking to her. It seemed like it, though, and she was anxious to know.

_What is inside the room is just a big area with large amounts of the softest green needles on the bottom I have ever felt! Grandfather says that these soft green needles are called grass, and they have them on Earth. I was amazed by what grandfather told me next. He told me that this is what it's like on Earth—at times. Only for half of the time it orbits around the sun does it have the soft green grass. During the other half of the orbit, the grass is covered by white sand called snow or covered with crispy triangles called leaves that fall down from trees. I was fascinated. But more importantly, I was grateful. Grateful that I could experience what my grandfather calls the four seasons in this room like the inhabitants of Earth do! Diary, even though I have my special room and the greatest grandfather…I still wish for a friend. I'm tired; I better get some sleep, good night Diary._

MJ looked up from reading the diary. A special room that had all four seasons in it? Whoa! Now that was cool! After making a mental note to see this special room when they went to the space colony ARK, MJ couldn't wait to read what was next…

_Dear Diary,_

_After playing in the room today, I didn't know what to do. Playing in my special room was nice, but, I was the only one to play there. There was no one to accompany me, and I felt lonely. Grandfather must have suspected it because in the third hour after morning hours on Earth, he went into is Lab room. Now it is the eighth hour after morning hours on Earth and he still hasn't come out of there. I am curious: what is he working on that doesn't allow him to come out and talk with me? I had to eat my third meal alone, and that only made all the lonelier. I tried to listen to what he was doing by putting my ear against the door, but I could hear nothing. I give up, diary. My grandfather is too puzzling to figure out. He never tells anyone what he's doing, and when he's finished, all his creations are the most spectacular sights to behold. He is also the greatest storyteller. I like listening to his stories. One of them is about angels. He talked about how angels were so bright, that it was hard to see them and almost made you blind. But he also told me that if far away enough, they would seem like little stars. That's probably why I love stars because my favorite story was the one of the littlest angel. The story went that the littlest angel wasn't as bright as the others, and wasn't as tall as them. He was just not used for anything because of his little light. One day, the Creator came to the angel with an assignment. He told the angel to go down and shine above a stable with all his might so that many may see that a special baby was born. The littlest angel had some doubt that he could do this, but, with a little hope, he went down to Earth and shone above the small stable. The light was the brightest thing, as the story said, that it even attracted KINGS to the stable and to the baby. The littlest angel turned out to be the brightest star. I've always loved that story. Just a few minutes ago, I looked out a giant window that let us see the black blanket that surrounded our home and looked at those stars that gave me a sense of purity. At that moment, I started to believe that stars were angels. I had hope that one of them would come to me and be my friend, my brightest star, but now I'm not so sure. I guess I'll just have to wait, won't I, diary?_

MJ gave some deep thought. The story sounded familiar...oh! She remembered! The nativity! MJ smiled. What a clever way to tell the nativity story, she thought. With lots of hope dwelled up inside her, MJ continued reading…

_Dear Diary,_

_You will not believe what happened to me!_

Try me, MJ thought.

_Today, grandfather finally came out of his room, and told me to close my eyes. I did so, being an obedient human alive for eight years so far, and allowed my grandfather to lead me to his new creation. When he finally told me to open my eyes, I did and gasped as words couldn't come out of my mouth how I felt. I saw the most adorable creature. It was black with red stripes on its quills that were dull at the moment and red stripes down its arms and legs. It was curled up in a little ball, and when I reached out my hand to touch it, it uncurled and open its crimson eyes, yawning. What a cute little yawn! Grandfather told me it was what inhabitants on Earth called a hedgehog. This hedgehog, I could tell, wasn't even an hour old! It just stared at me with its red eyes full of curiosity. I would have squealed with delight at how adorable it was, but I knew if I had, it would frighten the baby. Grandfather leaned down to me and whispered, 'You need to name it.' I looked at my grandfather surprised. Usually HE named all of his creations! Now he was letting me name it! I looked down at the hedgehog who was falling asleep again. Then, it struck me. 'I'll name him Shadow,' I replied. Grandfather stroked his mustache. Then he said that Shadow was a good name, and I felt so happy that I jumped and softly clapped my hands a few times. Then I turned to Shadow and saw that he was asleep. I gently kissed the soft cheek of the hedgehog and was going to walk away when my grandfather said, 'Aren't you forgetting something?' I turned back to see if I forgot my short-sleeved jacket, but I saw I had it on. Being confused, I looked at my grandfather. He was pointing at the sleeping hedgehog. I opened my eyes wide. 'I get to keep him and take care of him!' I asked. Grandfather only nodded. I couldn't speak. I got to take care of and raise this cute creature all by myself! 'Go ahead, take him, he's all yours, Maria,' grandfather encouraged. It took me a while, but finally, I walked over to the sleeping hedgehog again. This time, I reached out my arms, and as gentle as I could to as not to awake him, I picked him up in my arms and held him often as I had saw mothers do in picture books. I could feel his chest slowly rising and falling with each breath. He looked so comfortable in his sleep. I looked at my grandfather with tears in my eyes. 'Now, don't you cry, I don't want to see any of that stuff, now! Go on and take care of Shadow,' my grandfather said firmly. I nodded and walked away without saying thank you, but I knew my grandfather would understand—he ALWAYS understands._

MJ was smiling so big and was biting her lower lip. She wanted to squeal, too! But, as to not make a racket, she kept quiet. How cute Shadow must have been! Being so small and little…Without bothering to think, MJ turned the page to read what happened next…

_Dear Diary,_

_Sorry I haven't written during the one orbit the Earth has made around the sun, I have been occupied by taking care of now a one year old Shadow. We celebrated the day he was born and gave him some sweet and sugary things to eat. He enjoyed them. After that, I kept trying to teach him how to talk. He wouldn't even try to talk. All he would do is listen to me pronounce the words very slowly. I even tried to see if he had paid attention by showing him rectangular shaped cards that had pictures on them to see if he could name them. No such luck. I gave up on that, and decided to try something else: walking. Well, he didn't seem too ready, although, he was doing a better job than talking. At least he figured out how to crawl. That's an important step. Yesterday I asked my grandfather if trying to teach my mom to walk and talk when she was little was hard. 'It sure was,' he replied, 'but you know: after you teach them, they seem to always be thanking you for teaching them.' I asked how and why. 'Why, I don't know. But how is by them using what you taught them to get somewhere or accomplish a goal,' he answered. I asked him what he meant. 'When you run, in what inhabitants on Earth call a race, you try and reach the goal, right?' grandfather asked. I nodded, allowing him to continue. 'Well, you run by using your feet, right?' grandfather wondered. I could see what he was getting at. 'How can you reach the goal without learning how to run or even walk first?' he asked. 'You can't,' I replied. Grandfather nodded, 'Exactly. They thank you by winning their goal even if they don't realize it.' I looked at the floor. Then I once again became determined to teach Shadow about walking and talking. 'Thanks, grandfather!' I replied. Grandfather nodded and I ran to my bedroom, where Shadow was sleeping. I quietly then walked over to him and lightly rubbed his shoulder, calling his name. Eventually, he woke up, and looked at me with confused eyes. 'Time to get up,' I said. A few minutes later, I had Shadow all ready to learn how to walk. I grabbed his wrists gently and pulled them up, pulling him off his knees. He was starting to panic and he made a whining sound. I smiled then let Shadow's feet touch the ground. I let him stand there and get used to the support of the ground. Then, I started walking and led him to walk with my hands still gripping his wrists in case he fell. After I had walked a while with my eyes still on Shadow, he let his legs stretch, not taking a step, and then all fell; with the only thing keeping him off the ground was my hands. I gave an exasperated sigh and looked at Shadow who was looking at me with fear in his eyes. I tried time after time, but he wouldn't take a single step. He would just PLOP down and I'd have to start over. After about the twentieth time, and let Shadow sit on his bum and I got on my knees, ready to talk to him. 'Shadow,' I told him, 'what is a hedgehog if he can't walk?' I asked. Shadow looked at me confused. 'Why do you think I try and make you walk?' I asked, even though I knew he wouldn't reply. Shadow looked at the ground, as if he were thinking. Then, looking up, I could tell he wanted to try again. I got up and once again grabbed his wrists. 'You ready?' I asked. He nodded. I smiled. Finally he understood words! Then, I walked, keeping my eyes on him. Finally, he reached out one of his bare feet and was about to fall when I caught him. He looked at me, unsure. I told him he could do it, and we tried again. This time, when Shadow picked up his foot he immediately put it down in front of himself, not wanting to fall down. Then, he did the same with the other one. Then the next and the next…before I knew it, he was walking! But, he was walking a little too fast. His feet would stay in the air for not even a second then come down. I tried to not laugh for he looked like one of grandfather's robots walking. I told him to slow down. But he didn't, he kept walking like one of my grandfather's robots. Then I stopped walking and he stopped, looking at me as if to ask, 'Did I do well?' I shook my head playfully at him and said, 'Shadow, it's okay, you don't need to walk so fast. Take your time.' We tried again, this time, Shadow tried as I said, and he walked like an ordinary human would. I was so proud. Then, I tried him to walk without me holding any of his hands, but he whined so from then on, we always walked with him holding on of my hands just in case. Teaching him had made me tired, so I walked Shadow to bed, brushed his teeth, and washed his face. After I tucked him in, he looked at me with those red eyes shining. He must've been proud of himself, and I was too. I told him that. I then kissed him on the cheek, told him good night and turned off the lights. Before I exited his bedroom to go to my own, I heard the cutest male voice say, 'Thank you.' I froze. Was that…Shadow? I turned to him and he was looking at me, smiling. I smiled too, 'Your welcome. I'm very proud of you, now get some rest, we need to show grandfather what you can do.' Shadow nodded and answered, 'Okay.' I smiled then left. After I closed the door, I exclaimed, 'Yes!' With a happy heart, I bid you good night, Diary._

MJ was 'wowed'. She never knew this about Shadow! The more she thought about it, the more it seemed…real; almost as if she were there when Shadow was a child. MJ excitedly read the next part in the diary, eager to learn more about Shadow…

_Dear Diary,_

_It has been very hard to write every day, so I am writing every orbit around the sun the Earth makes, sorry._

MJ had no problem with that. As long as she could read what happened to Shadow in his past, she'd be happy!

_Shadow has been doing well with his walking and talking. But, that now two years old hedgehog is a little troublemaker. _ _Just today, Shadow was practicing walking around the kitchen. Of course, me trying to be a mother to him even though I've only been alive for ten years, I had to watch him and walk beside him. Suddenly, he fell and fell on a cord that grandfather needed inserted into a special slot and that pulled the cord out. You see, grandfather was cooking our first meal, and he was using what the inhabitants of Earth call an oven. When tripping on the cord, Shadow accidentally pulled it out, and then the oven stopped working. Grandfather was mad at me and said I should be more careful. I nodded then turned to Shadow to scold him, when he was looking at me with tears in his big red eyes, almost as if he had understood what he had done. I just couldn't scold him if he already knew! Picking him up in my arm and holding him so that his head was over my shoulder and his body being held by my left arm, I carried him to my bedroom, hoping that Shadow would fall asleep. He wouldn't. He kept looking at me with tears in his eyes. I realized what I had forgotten. Forgiving him and assuring him everything was all right, I then tucked him up under the covers of his small bed. Instantly his eyes went back to their normal cheery self and he closed them for a nap. I smiled and listened as he started to snore softly. How cute a sound it was! Then I walked away and was about to leave when he said, 'Maria!' I stopped. 'What is it, Shadow?' I asked. 'I can't faw asweep,' Shadow said, having trouble with his 'l'. I asked why. 'I haven't had my first meaw,' Shadow replied, once again not correctly pronouncing his 'l'. I was shocked. Why didn't I think about that? I was so stupid to forget about our first meal. I then picked up the ebony hedgehog and decided to take him to my special room. Once there, I put Shadow on the ground, and he grabbed my hand immediately, standing up. He looked at me ready to play. 'What do you want to play, Shadow?' I asked, squatting down so my dress was just barely touching the soft grass. 'I wanna pway…' Shadow thought for a minute. I sighed and told myself silently that I must teach Shadow someday how to correctly say his 'l's. 'Wet's pway ring-a-round-the-rosie!' Shadow exclaimed. I smiled. 'Okay, let's do that!' I replied, and we locked our hands and started to skip in a circle, chanting, 'Ring around the rosie, pocket full of posie, ashes, ashes, we all fall down!' then our hands let go, and away we fell, to the ground. We both laughed and I sat up to look at Shadow. Shadow was looking at the big blue sky that was the ceiling of the room. For some reason, he wasn't laughing like I was. Instead, he had a confused face. 'What's the matter, Shadow?' I asked, laying beside him. Shadow pointed to one of the oval-shaped, fluffy objects that were displayed on a screen, since it wasn't really Earth, and asked, 'What's that?' I smiled, 'That's a cloud, Shadow.' 'A cwoud?' Shadow repeated, still struggling with his 'l's. I sighed, now was a better time than ever. I turned over to the black hedgehog and asked him to say 'well' for me. He did so, and it sounded more like 'wew' than 'well'. 'Shadow,' I said, 'you pronounce your 'l's like I do. Try saying like.' 'Wike,' he said slowly, concentrating on the 'l'. I shook my head, 'No, l-ike.' 'Wike' he still said. 'Let's try something else…' I suggested. Shadow repeated what I said, 'Let's try something else.' I opened my eyes in shock. 'Shadow, you did it!' I exclaimed. 'I did?' he asked, bewildered. 'Yes you did! Do it again!' I exclaimed. 'What do I say?' Shadow inquired. 'Say Prof. Gerald,' I instructed excitedly. 'Prof. Gerald,' Shadow replied, saying his 'l'. 'Yes! You did it, Shadow! You did it!' I yelled. 'I did it! YAY!' Shadow was happy, too. We both got off the ground and jumped excitedly. Just then, grandfather came in, and he saw us jumping. 'What's going on in here?' he asked. Me and Shadow stopped jumping and laughed. Then, I noticed something. 'Shadow! You're not holding my hand anymore! You can balance yourself!' I informed. Shadow looked at himself, surprised. How wonderful he must have felt to have accomplished so many things in one day! He squealed with delight and jumped up and down. Then, I remembered that grandfather was watching us, and turned to see if he was still there. He wasn't! I was puzzled, but pushed the matter aside, and told Shadow it was time to eat. He nodded, and then we skipped happily to the kitchen, ready to have our first meal. It was wonderful that day, but grandfather is working on something. I know it because when the Earth was four hours away from making a full spin, I checked to see if he was okay, since he had talked less. He wasn't in sight! I then noticed the light that was shining from within his Lab. I had sighed and then made my way towards bed. I wonder, diary: What is my grandfather up to this time?_

MJ thought a minute. Professor Gerald seemed so unpredictable. Yet, this was so exciting! MJ continued reading, ready to learn more…

_Dear Diary,_

_Yes, I know, it's only been two spinnings of the Earth's time that I've wrote you, but I simply must tell you something that happened! It is extraordinary! You will not believe what grandfather has gotten Shadow! Or should I say, MADE Shadow. He made Shadow some gloves and shoes to wear! Isn't it nice? Shadow was unsure of what they were, and had asked me. I explained to him that gloves are clothing that you put on your hands to protect them and shoes are clothing that you put on your feet to protect them, too. Shadow had stood there, a little confused. Then, looking at a glove, then his hand, he then slid the white clothing onto his hand gently. He stared at it a few moments before bending each finger one at a time to see if he could move them. The glove was perfectly flexible! Interested, Shadow had slid the other one on his other hand. He was excited! With his eyes full of curiosity, he turned to his shoes. He then noticed at a white cloth was lying inside each shoe. He quietly, with only two fingers, he picked up one of them. He then asked me what it was. I answered him by telling him it was a sock, and you put it on over your feet before you put your shoes on so then you don't get hurtful bubbles on your feet called blisters. Shadow then looked at his sock. He sat on his bum and slid the sock over his foot carefully. After accomplishing that, he sat back and wiggled his foot, watching and learning. Then he grabbed the other sock and did the same. He looked at himself, and then at his shoes. Taking one of them, he slid it on his foot and then slid the other shoe on the other foot. Luckily, he didn't have to learn how to tie them since they didn't have strings. Then, he looked at me, almost asking if what he had to do next. "Get up, Shadow," I encouraged. Shadow then stood up, and flailed his arms around for a while before settling down. Then, he tried to walk. He fell. I laughed. He must not be used to the weight of the shoe. Then, I helped him walk again. This time, it worked! He started walking! Then, I let him walk on his own. It was a little hard for him at first, but after a while, he was used to it. Oh diary, I'm so proud of my little Shadow._

MJ had to hold her breath when looking on the next page. This was exciting! MJ never knew this stuff about Shadow before! Reading on, MJ started to think how it must have felt to take care of Shadow…almost like a mother…

_Dear Diary,_

_I have discovered something that amazes me. It is the most spectacular thing I've ever witnessed in my 11 years of living. It's about Shadow. He can run so fast! I've never seen anything like it! He buzzes around doing things as quick as a snap of your fingers! It is amazing! His shoes also allow him to hover. Grandfather outdid himself on Shadow. I am overly impressed. But, I am also embarrassed. You see, today, Shadow was practicing his speed, and then I lost sight of him. Slightly scolding myself for not being a watchful 'mother', I start looking for him. He's nowhere to be found! Then, I heard grandfather yell, "Maria! Maria, come here this instant!" Oh no, I thought. Shadow got into mischief again. I ran down the hallway, and then stopped, petting my hair. I didn't want grandfather to see me as a wreck. Then, I opened the door to his room. "Yes, Grandfather?" I asked, and then noticed where Shadow was. He was looking at me with happy eyes, obviously not realizing he was in trouble. He was. He had jumped on grandfather's desk and messed up all his papers. "Get him to bed at once!" grandfather ordered, "It's very late, and he should be sleeping." "Yes, sir. We're sorry, Grandfather."_ _I apologized and blushed. "Ooh, Mini Maria!" Shadow called, happily. I sighed as I held him in my arms. "Shadow, come with me now," said I said, softly. "It's time for bed, and time to dream."_ _Then I heard the cutest and kindest reply: "I'll dream of you!" Then he hugged me. I was touched by the little hedgehog's words, but then grandfather cleared his throat, signaling he had work to do, so I left while carrying Shadow. When getting to the bathroom, I set the ebony hedgehog down and grabbed his red toothbrush. Then, squirting some toothpaste on it, I looked for Shadow. I couldn't find him! That hedgehog must be playing hide and seek, I thought, then searched for him. Finally, I found a hump under the bathroom towel. Lifting it up, I could see Shadow and he squealed with delight. I shook my head playfully and then made him sit down. Looking at him, I said, "Now let me see your tiny teeth." Shadow opened his mouth and closed his eyes, but not without saying, "Oh, okay!" Then, I started to brush his teeth. After rinsing and spitting out the toothpaste, Shadow looked at me and smiled. I praised him, "Good, Shadow! You have nice teeth. Now, after you use the bathroom, I'll tuck you in." I then exited the bathroom, giving him some privacy. Sitting on the bed, I waited for him to come out. "I'm done!" he said finally, and came out, hopping towards me. I smiled and said gently, "All right, let's take your shoes off. Come here." I patted the bed, signaling for Shadow to hop on, but he was struggling. Then, I gave him a little push, and soon he was sitting beside me. As gently as I could, I slipped Shadow's shoes off, fluffed his pillow, and pulled the covers back. Shadow then quietly went to his place. "Maria, don't forget to cover me up!" he reminded. "Of course I won't forget, I never will," I promised. Then, I pulled the covers over him, once again gently and he snuggled under them. He was so cute when he looked at me with his crimson eyes tiredly. I then kissed his cheek and said, "Goodnight, little Shadow, sweet dreams, and I'll see you in the morning." "Goodnight Maria," Shadow yawned. I saw his eyes close and then I stood up to turn off the light switch. Right after I turned off the lights, Shadow called, "Maria!" I instantly ran back the few paces I had taken and turned on the lights again, asking, "What is it, Shadow? Is something wrong? Are you scared?" "No, its worse, Maria! I can't sleep!" Shadow replied, his eyes wide. I smiled and shook my head saying, "But you just got tucked in. Just close your eyes, and you'll sleep." "No, no, no," he replied, "I know I can't sleep because I need something." I was surprised. "Really? What do you need? Are you thirsty?" Shadow said, "Well, yesh… that, too, but I also need a bedtime story. Please?" Stepping into the room, I said, "Oh, you want me to read a bedtime story?" "Yesh!" Shadow nodded, and then he cutely blinked his eyes. While going over to the bookstand, I wondered if grandfather should read a bedtime story; he's a much better teller than I. But when I look back at Shadow, I see his cute crimson eyes all ready and excited for ME to read one, so, I agreed, and grabbed a book. I looked at it as I brought it back to the bed. It was a book of bedtime stories. Perfect! Then, sitting down on the bed, I began searching for one. Shadow climbed on my lap as one seemed to beg for me to read it. With big eyes and alert ears, Shadow listened as I told the tale. I can't tell you the whole story, diary, but I can tell you what it was about. It was called "Stone Soup" and was about three soldiers who came back from war. They were very tired and hungry, but the villagers of the town they stopped at hid all their food from the soldiers. What selfish people. Being the clever soldiers they are, the soldiers tricked the villagers by telling them of a delicious soup they know how to make called "Stone Soup". First, they put water and a stone in the pot. Then, pepper and salt. After that, onions. Then celery and carrots. Next potatoes. Some barley, milk, and meat and many other ingredients. I was so busy reading the story; I didn't notice Shadow had left my lap! Then, when I was about to read the ending, Shadow came back and sat beside me. As the story turned out, the soup was delicious and the whole village had a feast fit for a king and queen. They celebrated, and soon after, the soldiers were allowed to sleep in the villagers beds. Closing the book, I said, "There, and that's the end." "Wow, I like that story, Maria. Thank you," Shadow said, smiling up at me. Politely, I replied, "Your welcome, and I'm glad you enjoyed it." But, before I could tell him to sleep, something caught my attention. It was a sweet scent and smelled delicious. "Wait," I said. "What's that smell, Shadow?" The hedgehog looked up at me innocently replying, "Stone soup." "What?" I asked, confused. Then, Shadow grabbed my arm, and led me to a black pot full of, nothing else but, stone soup. "You see?" Shadow asked, pointing to the pot, "I made it. I followed the book." I was touched, "That's so sweet of you." Then, Shadow gave me a teaspoon, saying, "Here, try it for me." How could I refuse? "Thank you," I said softly. I then lowered the spoon to gather some of the soup. Lifting it to my mouth, I caught a big smell of the soup. Delicious. Then, I tasted it. Shadow watched me without blinking his eyes. Then, he asked, "Is it a goodie?" I nodded. "It's pretty good, Shadow. Great work." I then smiled and stroked his head gently while he smiled and closed his eyes. There was calm silence for a while until we heard grandfather call from the hallway, "Maria! Is that hedgehog in bed yet?" "Oh no," I whispered, "It's grandfather. He'll be angry." Shadow gulped, then said, "Don't worry, Maria. It was my idea, my soup, and my bad. It's not yours." I was touched, but wouldn't let Shadow get scolded alone. I replied, "No, Shadow. If grandfather becomes angry, I'm still with you." "Oh, so we'll get in trouble together?" Shadow asked in a whisper. I nodded, and than he ran to me and hugged me while closing his eyes, afraid of grandfather yelling. When grandfather came in, he was more surprised than angry. He asked, "Maria, Shadow, what's going on in here? And…" he took a few sniffs, "What's that smell?" Before I could explain, Shadow said, "It's stone soup!" Grandfather was confused. "What is that? Strange, I don't recall that in my studies…" "I just made it," Shadow said, "I followed the book to make it. Here, try some!" Grandfather shrugged and took the spoon from the little hedgehog. I held my breath as he tasted it. "It's delicious!" he said. I let out my breath while Shadow smiled and let go of me. "Still," grandfather interrupted our silent celebration, "It's time for bed now. Maria, see to it that he sleeps." "Yes, sir," I said, and obeyed him. Grandfather then left the room. "That was too close," I whispered, and turned back to Shadow, who was trying another sip of the delicious soup. "Yummy, good," Shadow said, and I shook my head, knowing I'd have to brush his teeth again. After brushing his teeth again, I tucked him in bed and kissed his cheek. I again wished him goodnight, and turned off the lights, and now I wish you goodnight, diary._

MJ tried not to squeal again. This was even cuter than before! Not wanting to ponder on it much, MJ continued reading…

_Dear diary,_

_Years have passed and Shadow has gotten older. He is much help around the ARK and so kind and courteous—when he's not causing mischief. Now I think back to when he was just a baby and now he is a preteen. Oh, diary. I realize something. I remember about wishing for a star, a little angel for me. Someone who I could tell all my feelings to…and now I have someone. Shadow. Shadow is my little star; my little angel. Even though he is black with red stripes, I see him as my little light. No, my biggest light. He was the littlest angel and became the brightest star for me. Oh diary. I wish Shadow could live forever…I can't write much now. Grandfather has something to show me. I'll write to you tomorrow._

MJ's eyebrow raised. This insert was MUCH shorter than the others…oh well! At least she can find out more about Shadow…

_Dear Diary,_

_Grandfather has started telling me about Earth. I know I already know a lot about them, but he told me more. I now wish that I could be down there. I told my little angel that, and he agreed. It was a solemn moment as I pondered about what life must be like down there. Shadow seemed to sense my troubled mind and said, "Maria, if you could be down there, what do you wish to do?" I was startled by his question. There were so many things I wanted to do down there! But, the most thing I wanted to do? "I…I would want to help people down there. Grandfather tells me there are crimes and innocent people get hurt everyday. I'd like to help them, encourage them. Be their little star or little angel," I replied honestly. Shadow nodded. Then, I asked Shadow, "What would you want to do?" Shadow looked at me and said, "I would want to do that too." I smiled. Now, as a 17 year old, I wonder if there already is someone down there to do my wish. If there is…would he or she want help? The more I thought about going to Earth, the more I longed to. And I still do, diary. My writings are short, diary, because I feel as though something awful might happen. Almost as if we were to get attacked. Diary, everyday, my heart feels as though I would separate from my Shadow. He is like a child to me and I am guessing I am like a mother to him…Diary, I need to sleep now, goodnight._

MJ was in deep thinking. Maria was seventeen, so Shadow must be eleven. MJ continued reading…

_Dear Diary,_

_Diary, grandfather is worried. I know. He is trying to hide it, and has been for a year._

MJ paused a minute. That meant Maria was eighteen and Shadow was twelve.

_I don't know what's wrong, but obviously he feels like something awful is going to happen, too. I talked with Shadow about it, and he feels the same way. Diary, I'm worried. Something awful is going to happen. I can tell. I can just tell and I am afraid. Afraid of what might happen. Diary, I promise. I promise that no matter what, even if I die, that Shadow will be given the chance to see life down on Earth. I promise. _

MJ started having butterflies in her stomach. This didn't give her a grand feeling of what may happen next. Turning the page, MJ took a deep breath. Her heart skipped a beat as she read…

_Dear Diary,_

_This feeling has been staying for 2 months. I can't take it anymore, diary! Something awful is going to happen! I have tried to make grandfather prepare us, but he keeps on telling me nothing will happen! If nothing will, then why does he everyday go to bed with sweat dropping down his forehead? I'm worried, diary. Not only for the ARK colony, but for grandfather and Shadow. I want them to be safe. More importantly, I want Shadow to understand and discover some of the things I was never able to. Diary, I'm scared. Something will happen, and it will only be moments before_

A line of ink ran down the page. MJ's eyes went wide. She quickly flipped through the rest of the pages in the diary, but they were blank. MJ stared at the wall. She knew the rest of the story. She knew what had happened next. Shadow lived. Maria didn't. Maria died for Shadow.

MJ closed the book with one last thought: More importantly, Maria fulfilled her promise._  
_


	7. Chapter 7

Jet found herself standing before the four adventurers on the couch, saying, "So you're telling me that Prison Island blew-up!"

Sonic nodded, "Exactly."

Silence followed as everyone took time to let this sink in. The only sound that could be heard was the shower, which Krystal was using, and the storm which was dying down.

Darkness stood up. "I have a feeling that this is deeper than it seems," she said.

"In English?" Maya Eva inquired.

"There is a missing piece to the puzzle. And I think Sonic knows the answer," Darkness accused.

"Why you looking at me!" Sonic exclaimed.

"Yeah, why IS she looking at Sonic?" Shani whispered to Maya Eva, who was sitting beside her.

The teal echidna shrugged while Lee, also sitting beside the two, answered, "I think she is meaning that, 'you know how the story goes.'?"

"But that still doesn't explain it. Everything has been flowing well!" Shani protested.

"Not exactly. Remember the beginning?" Lee asked.

Shani gave an 'o' expression. Maya Eva gave the same.

"Sonic, has something happened that you haven't told us about?" Darkness inquired, crossing her arms over her chest.

_She'd make a great lawyer, _Tails thought.

"Sometimes having friends that know what is going to happen and what has happened is a pain….yes, something has happened, and it probably will explain the GUN semi that was chasing you…." Sonic went on to explain his first encounter with GUN.

He gave every detail: the helicopter, the getting free….and even went on to say that while he was running away, he found Jet. That's why GUN knew that Jet, Maya Eva, and Shani were friends of Sonic.

The whole group nodded as everything fell together.

"Did I miss anything?" asked Krystal as she stepped into the room, clean and all.

"Only the beginning part. Sonic was explaining what happened at first that started everything," Darkness explained.

Krystal gave an 'o' expression and sat down on the floor beside Lee, Maya Eva and Shani.

"How come you guys know everything?" Sonic asked.

"Haven't we told you that before?" Lee inquired.

"Yeah, I know, but it's…" Sonic was interrupted when Amy blurted out: "ANNOYING!"

Sonic then waved a hand in the pink hedgehog's direction, saying, "What she said."

"Well, there is no use sitting here! We've got to find Eggman!" Krystal informed.

"How?" Amy asked.

"Well, would it be any fun if we told you?" Darkness inquired.

"Guess not…" Sonic muttered.

"I got it! We can find Eggman by his transmission! Eggman is talking with the president in his limousine! All we need to do is catch that limousine and get the source of the signal and presto! We know where Eggman is!" Tails exclaimed.

"Tails! You're a genius!" Shani exclaimed.

Everyone in the room stared at her.

"What?" she replied, "He IS a genius!"

"Then what are we waiting for!" Maya Eva exclaimed, "We have a limousine to catch!"

……………

MJ hobbled around, confused. Why was everyone hustling and bustling around? She tried to stop Rouge.

"Rouge! What in the world is going on?" MJ wondered.

"We are trying to talk to the president," Rouge informed.

MJ was surprised. Not because they were going to talk to the president, but because she originally wasn't expecting an answer.

"Besides," the bat added, "Eggman wants to speak to you."

MJ was confused. What would that Egg-head want?

"Come on, I'll take you to him!" Rouge offered, MJ nodded and followed as the white bat lead her to a center room.

MJ surveyed her surroundings. It looked like one of those high-tec control rooms…but actually, it was just an old room to with a password-guarded computer.

The constant buzzing of the screen caught MJ's attention.

"GAR! Why won't it work!" Robotnick yelled.

MJ saw Rouge casually walk over. "Maybe if you push this button," she informed with her infamous charm.

MJ literally saw Eggman sweat-drop as the screen went to a normal blue, ready to receive the president's signal.

The seal tried to keep from laughing. The famous mad scientist with an over-the-average IQ had just been defeated out of smarts by this government agent.

Wait! Something in MJ's mind clicked. Rouge told her everything because…they were on the same side!

"Are you okay?" asked a familiar voice that showed no emotion.

MJ turned around, startled. It was Shadow with his arms crossed.

"I'm okay…" MJ nodded, and could feel her cheeks get warm. She immediately turned around.

Why did she feel hot all of a sudden?

By Shadow's reply, she could tell he didn't take her answer for the truth, "You're hiding something…"

MJ tried to have a laugh come out, "Who said I was hiding something?" MJ silently kicked herself. _Stupid answer, Mika! _She thought.

The black hedgehog walked passed her without saying anything more and MJ let out a sigh of relief as her cheeks went back to their white color.

"What's wrong with me?" MJ quietly wondered to herself. Why was she acting strange around Shadow? It couldn't be….oh no.

MJ's mind clicked once more as the TV showed the president's face. She realized one important fact: she had a crush on Shadow.

……………..

"Are we there yet?" an over-bored Lee asked from the back seat of the TORNADO.

A certain, irritated brown animal replied, who was sitting in the seat in front of him, "Tell me, Lee. Do you see a black limo?"

"No…" Lee said, sheepishly.

"THEN WE'RE NOT THERE YET!" Jet exclaimed.

Tails sighed. Why did he have to be paired with them? Sonic got Shani and Maya Eva to look for Knuckles while Amy got Darkness, Tia and Krystal to look for any signs of Eggman himself.

Something beeping got the young fox's attention. Tails looked down on his radar. Bingo, the president's limousine.

"Hang on, guys! I think I found where the president is!" Tails exclaimed.

"Great!" Lee agreed, sitting up straight.

"Did you mean literally hang on?" Jet asked, curiously.

As her answer, the TORNADO sped up increasingly.

"I'll take that as a yes," Jet muttered, hanging on to the sides of her seat.

"WHOA!" Tails exclaimed as he turned a sharp corner.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHH! TAILS!" Jet screamed, being rammed to the right by the pressure.

"Sorry! But I did say hang on!" Tails apologized.

"But you didn't say to hang on for dear life!" Lee retorted.

Jet screamed as once again, she rammed into a side. Sighing, she pushed away from it. Man, this was going to be one rough drive.

………………

Maya Eva's fur was, if I may say, puffy. After their brief but fast ride that Sonic had given them, Shani couldn't help but laugh at her friend's condition.

"What's so funny?" Maya Eva wondered, hands on hips.

"You!" Shani pointed and continued laughing.

The teal echidna looked down at herself and nearly screamed. Her hot pink eyes immediately looked up for Sonic, but that hedgehog was looking around for Knuckles and whistling, acting as if he hadn't done anything at all.

"Grr…" was all Maya Eva said in reply, brushing down her fur with a single hand. She didn't want to get in a fight, but mister Sonic over there was almost literally asking for one!

Suddenly, Sonic looked at Maya Eva and laughed, "Don't look at me like that. It's not my fault! Blame it on the wind!"

"Sure…the wind…" Maya Eva said, sarcastically with a smirk.

"What? It's the only excuse I can come up with!" Sonic protected himself.

Maya Eva and Shani burst out laughing.

Sonic gave a short laugh, but then decided it was time to continue their search, "Come on, guys. We need to find Knuckles."

Maya Eva and Shani nodded, after settling down a bit, and continued their search.

……………..

"Can we be any unluckier?" Amy whined.

"Why do you say that?" Tia asked.

"We have to search for that stinking Eggman…" Amy muttered in disgust.

"Great…." Darkness agreed.

Silence followed as the group continued walking.

"Well if this isn't boring, then I don't know what is!" Krystal exclaimed, throwing her arms up.

Suddenly, a beeping sound from Amy's wrist caught everyone's attention. The pink hedgehog flipped open a wrist-communicator, and instantly, the screen was split so then they could see Sonic and Tails.

"Tails, what happened?" Sonic asked.

"We've found the president," Tails replied as he took a brief glance to see the black limousine they were trailing.

"Great work, lil' bud!" Sonic praised.

Tails smiled. "Thanks, I thought you guys would like to know before we get the location of Eggman's base."

Suddenly, a cry from Tia caught their attention, "Hey, guys! Look what I found!"

Amy looked up as Sonic and Tails….well, Tails more like, Sonic isn't very patient….waited to for the explanation.

The pink hedgehog walked over beside the half-mechanic girl and gasped. There before her was a desert, and off in the distance was an odd pyramid.

"Amy, what is going on?" Sonic asked, impatient.

"Well, I think we found one of Eggman's bases, or the only one," Amy replied.

"You did!" the other two Mobians exclaimed simultaneously.

"Yep. Take a look for yourself," Amy Rose tilted her wrist to the pyramid, so then they could see.

"Um, Amy?" Tails called.

"Yeah," Amy replied.

"It's upside down," the two-tailed fox said, and Amy quickly turned it right-side up with a quick, 'sorry'.

"Eggman's base is a pyramid!" Sonic exclaimed, not really believing it.

"Yep. Why else would there be a pyramid in a dessert that you can see? You think Eggman would be smarter?" Darkness mocked.

Krystal shook her head, "Not really…"

"Tails, now what do we do?" Amy asked, getting back on the subject.

"Well, you might want to start heading to the pyramid…Jet and Lee will get the information about where Eggman's real base is—" Tails was interrupted by Jet's voice.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, wait a minute! You're saying that ME and LEE are going to find the information in that limousine? Not you!" she exclaimed.

Tails nodded, "That's exactly what I'm saying."

Jet sighed. She wasn't sure if she was glad or mad that she was the one to get the information. She knew that Lee was going to do it with her, but…she was the one that knew the game. She knew what she had to do, and she was scared. Nervous, actually.

"It's okay!" Tails said, "It isn't that hard. All you have to do is jump on the side walk and run with your speed to the limousine and jump in! Lee will take care of the rest…you just need to slow it down so then he can jump in."

"Okay…" Jet said slowly. Sure being the leader was tough, but now she has to get in the limousine to slow down the president!

Tails turned back to his communicator, saying, "Alright, we are all set. Amy, you wait until I call you back before you do anything. Sonic, keep looking for Knuckles. We'll need him for this…."

The two hedgehogs nodded.

"Okay, see ya, Tails!" Sonic replied, and got off the communicator.

"Good luck, Jet and Lee!" Amy wished before getting off it, also.

Jet sighed. _I'm going to need that luck, _she thought.

"Alright, Jet! We're ready!" Tails informed.

The brown animal nodded and took a deep breath, now crouching down on the side of the TORNADO.

_Well, here goes nothing, _Jet thought, and jumped off, running.

She ran with a burst of speed to the limousine and could catch part of the conversation that was being held…

"Mr. President, I know you are a very busy man, so I'll skip the details and get right to the point…." Dr. Eggman said leisurely.

The president nodded, feeling a great burden on his shoulders.

"Here's the deal…."

The rest was hushed, but Jet caught two words…. "…Eggman Empire…."

She just about laughed out loud. Eggman Empire? When will he give up?

Before she knew it, she was close enough to jump in. Taking a deep breath, she gathered up strength in her legs, and….inside she landed, perfectly in the limousine.

"Eggman Empire? Yeah right!" Jet laughed, crossing her arms over her chest, imitating Sonic from the game.

"What!" Eggman exclaimed, surprised at the interruption.

Jet stuck her tongue out, mocking that mad scientist.

"Hey!" Eggman yelled. Maybe she went too far….

Nope. The driver slowed down, allowing Lee to hop in.

"WHAT'S GOING ON HERE!" the president yelled, confused.

"Hold on one moment, please, Mr. President!" Jet excused.

"What is the meaning of this!" the president calmed down a little bit.

"You wouldn't believe me if I told you, sir," Jet replied, shaking her head.

The president adjusted in his seat, still a little jumpy.

"Okay! I've got it!" Lee smiled.

"Alright, then let's head out!" Jet informed, jumping out of the black car.

"Hey, wait for me!" Lee called, also jumping out.

Each of them hopped back in the TORNADO, while the President stared, not knowing what to say of the unexpected event. Well, they always say to expect the unexpected….

………….

Shani yawned.

"What is it, Shani?" Maya Eva inquired.

"I'm, tired of searching for Knuckles! We're the only ones who haven't found something yet!" Shani complained, stopping over a manhole.

"Well, we can't give up! We'll have to keep looking!" Maya Eva encouraged.

"Wonder how long that'll be…" Shani muttered.

Suddenly, Shani was lifted off the ground!

"Whoa!" Shani wobbled around a bit on the raised manhole, and then looked under her.

"What in the—" she started, but Sonic cut her off.

"KNUCKLES!" he exclaimed, jogging over to the familiar red echidna.

"What?" Knuckles asked, irritated. "Is it just me, or have manholes suddenly got heavier?"

Sonic looked up, where Shani stood, looking down, on top of the manhole.

"Eh heh…." Shani blushed.

Sonic looked back down. "It's not just you. Shani's on top of it."

"Oh…." Knuckles said as Shani hopped off.

He then got out of the manhole, brushing himself off. "Now, why are you guys so excited to see me?"

"We need your help!" Maya Eva blurted out.

Knuckles looked at her confused. "Help?"

"Yep. We need the world's greatest treasure hunter on our side!" Sonic informed.

Knuckles sighed. "Sonic, I'm not doing it this time! Every time I've helped you, I seem to be getting in worse trouble! AND I am always in life-threatening situations! I'm using my head and staying out of this!"

"Knuckles! PLEASE!" Maya Eva begged.

The red echidna shook his head.

Then, Shani pouted her bottom lip, watered her eyes, and tilted her head downward. The puppy face.

Knuckles looked at her. So cute….No, he wasn't going to give in. But just look at that face! Oh…..

"Fine!" Knuckles said.

"YAY!" Shani exclaimed, taking away the face and jumping up and down in victory.

Knuckles mumbled. He was going to regret this….

"Thanks Knuckles, I know I can count on you!" Sonic informed, patting his friend's back.

"Yeah. Sure…" Knuckles murmured.

"Well, let's get going!" Sonic said, leading the way to where Amy was waiting….the sight of the pyramid….

………….

"Okay, we're all here!" Sonic announced, stopping right beside the others.

"WHOA!" Shani exclaimed, seeing the pyramid.

"Yeah….BIG whoa to that!" Maya Eva agreed.

"But we can't just sit here!" Amy informed.

"No we can't! Which is why we need to get in!" Sonic said, about to run.

"Sonic, STOP!" Sonic stopped at Jet's voice. "We need to find a way in, FIRST! We can't make rash decisions!"

"Jet's right!" Darkness agreed, and the others nodded.

"Who do you think should go?" Krystal inquired.

Jet turned to Lee and Tails, both sitting in the TORNADO. "I suggest they bust a way in. There doesn't seem to be an obvious entrance."

Everyone nodded. It was a logical statement.

"Alright, then Lee and I shall bust us in!" Tails exclaimed, engineering the TORNADO towards the base.

"Hey, WAIT A MINNNNNNNNNNNNUUUUUUUUUUUUUUTE!" Lee yelled, not getting a say in what he was going to do.

Before Lee knew it, he was called by Tails certain commands for firing the missiles. He found each one to blow up an enemy or a block in the way. He could remember how the course went in the game, he remembered everything.

Something was amiss. It was something inside him that he couldn't describe. It was something that would make him whole, to complete this mission. But what was it?

Suddenly, a song ran through his head, almost as if answer to his question. With each word sung, he felt stronger, as if the song was feeding him.

It was a song that Tails knew. Believe in Myself.

_When all alone in my chair_

_I just go about wishing  
Wanna be strong really wanna be trusted ohh  
When all alone in my bed I just go about yearning  
Wanna be cool_

_I also wanna be like him_

But that's not something I can do so easily  
This is not simply my way  
My own style  
Gotta get a hold of my life!

_  
I wanna fly high  
So I can reach the highest of all the heavens  
Somebody will be waiting for me  
So I gotta fly higher_

When all alone in my sleep  
I just go about dreaming

_I see myself there having the same adventure_

If I just follow you  
I will never see the light  
Now's the time to find my way  
Through this life  
Trying so hard to be strong

I gotta keep going  
Everything is a brand new challenge for me  
And I will believe  
Believe in myself this is the only way (stop) for me

Many friends help me out  
In return I help them  
Certain things I can do  
And there are things that only I can do  
No one's alone

I wanna fly high  
So I can reach the highest of all the heavens  
Somebody will be waiting for me  
So I gotta fly higher

Before Lee knew it, they had already made an entrance into the Pyramid. "Awesome, Lee!" Tails praised. Lee blushed.

"Great job!" Sonic commented as everyone ran up to the entrance.

"Well…now are we just going to dawdle here or are we going to go inside!" Shani asked, her hands on her hips.

"We're going inside!" Sonic replied, and everyone followed his lead inside the dark Pyramid, unaware of the battles ahead of them…


	8. Chapter 8

Shadow walked. He didn't care where he was going; he just wanted to go into a private room to get away from everything. After a while of walking, he finally found an empty room in the pyramid base. Quietly, he stepped inside, intending to shut the door behind him until a quiet voice asked, "What are you doing, Shadow?"

The ebony hedgehog froze. That voice….it sounded too much like…oh never mind.

"Nothing," he replied, not caring to look at who he was talking to. He already knew. It was MJ.

"Oh…" MJ looked down. She was hoping to do something with Shadow…but she guessed not.

"I'll guess I'll be going, then…" she turned around and in the corner of her eye she could she Shadow watching her as she left. After she was out of sight, she quickly and quietly hid behind the nearby wall and waited.

Shadow looked ahead at the empty room and stood in deep thought. "Maria…" he whispered and closed his eyes. It was funny; this empty room just outlined in metal reminded him of a day he had never forgotten…

Flashback

"Shadow! There you are! I've been searching for you!" said the cheerful Maria as she joined Shadow's side in a room much like the one in the Pyramid base.

"Why?" he curiously asked.

"I want to teach you something. Don't worry, it won't be boring. It'll be fun!" Maria informed, smiling. Her blue eyes sparkled with excitement.

"Okay!" Shadow loved to have fun with Maria.

"Here, what I am going to teach you is a dance," Maria informed.

"A dance?" the ebony hedgehog inquired.

Maria nodded, the instructed, "First, you have to know the formation. This dance is usually performed with a male and a female. The female grasps the male's hand like this…" Maria weaved her fingers into Shadow's, "…and then she'll place her other hand on the male's shoulder, like this…" then, Maria placed her hand on Shadow's shoulder.

"Then what does the male do?" Shadow asked.

"The male wraps his other hand that isn't being held by the female's hand around the female's waist, like this…" Maria guided Shadow's hand around her waist, which made Shadow blush.

Maria laughed. "There's no need to feel shy, Shadow," she said.

Shadow still blushed. It felt weird to be holding a female like that…

"Now, how you dance is simple. You just step to the right with your right foot, then step to the right with your left foot, and then step to the left with your left foot and follow with your right foot. You keep switching back and forth while slowly spinning. Like this…" slowly, Maria did as she said.

Shadow stumbled. Maria laughed as he regained his composure. "It's alright. Let's try again," she encouraged, and they picked up from where they left off.

After a few circles, Shadow got the hang of it.

"Good job, Shadow!" Maria praised.

Shadow smiled. Maria was right. That WAS fun.

End Flashback

Shadow opened his eyes and looked about him. If only he could do that just once more… Shadow took a quick glance around the room. Good, nobody was watching.

MJ whipped her sweat off her forehead. That was close. If she didn't hide her head behind the wall, Shadow would have spotted her! After waiting a little bit, she peeked around the corner again…

Shadow lifted up a hand, acting like it was grasping the "invisible" female's hand. The other hand wrapped around air. Then, taking a deep breath and reminding himself how it went, he danced.

MJ's eyes opened wide. Whoa, Shadow was good! He danced like he was a professional!

After watching him a bit, MJ fell into a trance. She didn't even notice the ivory bat that stopped beside her…

"Hey, what are you watching?" Rouge asked.

MJ jumped and nearly squealed with surprise.

"Rouge!" MJ gasped as the bat looked over the seal to see.

"Shadow? Dancing?...He's pretty good, actually…" Rouge commented, and then she looked at the seal who was blushing.

The bat raised an eyebrow. "You like him?"

"No! No! I don't!" MJ defended, her cheeks now crimson.

Rouge smiled. She could feel an evil plan coming her way…

Rouge stepped into the metal room while MJ mouthed to Rouge, "No! No!" while shaking her head slowly, her cheeks burning hot.

Shadow froze and turned his head to see Rouge smiling. "What do you want?" he asked, irritated.

"I've got someone here who wants to dance with you!" Rouge informed.

MJ's eyes opened wide. No! No! No! Rouge! What in the world is she doing? What is she THINKING! Is she INSANE!

Rouge grabbed the seal by the arm and pulled her into view.

Shadow stared at MJ as her eyes started to shyly come up. Then, their eyes met. Shyly, MJ quickly turned away. Her cheeks felt like they were burnt.

"Go ahead, MJ. Dance with Shadow," Rouge whispered.

"I don't think—"

"GO!" before MJ knew it, Rouge had pushed her in front of Shadow, accidentally slightly bumping into him.

Rouge smiled, reaching behind her.

"I'll leave you two alone…" then, the ivory bat shut the door behind her as she exited.

_I'm going to kill that bat once I'm out of here, _MJ thought, and Shadow thought the same thing.

Nothing happened for a while…until Shadow grabbed MJ's hand and lifted it up, weaving his fingers into hers. Then came the one part…

Finally, Shadow wrapped his arm around MJ's slender waist gently.

MJ gasped. Could this really be happening?

Shadow cleared his throat.

"Hmm?" MJ asked.

"You're supposed to put your hand on my shoulder," Shadow instructed. "Don't you know this dance?"

MJ blushed even more (if she could). "No…"

Gently, Shadow placed her hand on his shoulder and then put his arm around MJ's waist again.

"Do you know how to perform the dance?" he asked.

MJ shook her head and looked down.

"It's easy. First, you…" And step-by-step, Shadow taught MJ the dance, until finally they started dancing on their own.

MJ couldn't believe this was real. It seemed so…magical, so unbelievable. She felt like she was floating on a cloud. She felt so…she couldn't put it into words. It was just amazing.

Shadow watched MJ's every move. _She's very graceful…a natural, _he thought.

MJ felt like her crush on Shadow just washed away. It felt like there was nothing else in the room except them. Touched by all the emotions, MJ finally rested her head against Shadow's chest, closing her eyes.

Shadow was surprised. This young seal…felt so close to him. Then, Shadow noticed something. MJ had fallen asleep and was dancing in her sleep! Shadow stopped dancing, and MJ, in her sleep, stopped dancing. Her head was still against his chest.

He shook his head, smiling. Wait…smiling? SMILING! Shadow NEVER smiles! At least, the only one who ever made him smile was….was…Maria. So much like Maria…Shadow couldn't ignore the resemblance (except the look). They had the same attitude, mind and everything. Only one thing was different…MJ was alive and Maria wasn't. Shadow laid his eyes on MJ, this time looking at her differently—as if she was a sister to him. He was thankful she was asleep.

Gently, Shadow petted MJ's head. "I promise I won't let you die…not like I did Maria…" Shadow closed his eyes, burdening that promise deep inside his heart.

Then, Shadow picked up the sleeping seal and took her to her temporary bedroom. As he laid her down, and tucked her in, Shadow felt different.

_It's like I'm repaying Maria for all she's done to me… _Shadow thought. He looked at the peaceful look on MJ's face, and then walked away, turning off the lights…

………..

Knuckles sighed and looked beside him, where an unsure teal echidna stood. Sonic had done it again. He asked him if he could look for the keys to open the stupid door that blocked them from going any further in the pyramid. At first, he said no, but when Maya Eva offered to help…he started thinking, "How hard could it be when two people are looking for the keys?" Well, what he SHOULD have thought was, "Does she even know how to treasure hunt?"

"Look," Knuckles turned to face Maya Eva. "All you have to do is use your instincts."

Maya Eva was confused. "But….I'm not an original echidna like you! How am I supposed to—"

"You made Eva to be from a tribe, right? You made her to be a great treasure hunter, right?" Knuckles questioned.

Maya Eva slowly nodded 'yes' to each one.

"Then problem solved! You can find them!" the red echidna turned around to go look.

"How?" Maya Eva wondered.

Knuckles sighed in frustration. "You. Are. Maya Eva. Are you not? You should have all the traits from her except her attitude," he replied.

"OH!" Maya Eva exclaimed.

Knuckles just shook his head, but then froze. That vibe….a key was near. He was sure of it.

"Knuckles, why is my head throbbing towards my right?" Maya Eva questioned, her paws clutching the sides of her head, not understanding what was happening.

Knuckles looked at her. "Stay calm. There is no reason to get scared; after a while, you will get used to the feeling," he informed.

"But why am I feeling this way?" Maya Eva asked, almost shouting.

Knuckles winced. "You don't need to shout. Relax. The feeling you are experiencing means that a chaos emerald—in this case, a key—is nearby," he explained as patient as he could.

"Oh…" Maya Eva let go of her head and waited for further instructions.

"Now you need to just let your instincts take over. Let them guide you, but remain in control and conscious," Knuckles instructed.

The teal echidna's eyebrow rose in confusion.

"Just follow the feeling to guide you to the key basically," Knuckles said in simpler form.

Maya Eva nodded, and then as calm as she could, she walked towards the direction the throbbing was aimed. After walking a distance, the throbbing fled to the top of her head. Maya Eva looked up, and then looked behind her at Knuckles.

"I'm letting you do this one," he said.

Maya Eva sighed. How was she supposed to get up to where the throbbing led? _Think, Rachel, think! _she thought. Instantly, her mind did a flashback of the game Sonic Adventure 2: Battle. Then, she remembered. Maya Eva looked at her knuckles and then walked over to a column that looked like her only way up.

With the slight piece of confidence in herself, she dug her knuckles into the column and then climbed the concrete pole. Finally, the exhausted echidna reached the top and found that it led to a room. With the last of her strength, Maya Eva plopped down on the floor of the upper room.

"You okay?" Knuckles called.

"Yeah…just exhausted," Maya Eva replied, taking deep breaths.

"Harder than it looks, isn't it?" Knuckles said.

Maya Eva nodded, even though she knew he couldn't see her answer.

"Keep moving, though. We need to find the other keys. I'll start looking for the other one or ones," Knuckles offered.

Maya Eva rested until she couldn't hear his fading footsteps, and then stood up. The throbbing now was in the front of her head. Quietly, she walked over to where a giant picture of a dandelion hung. The throbbing was like a heartbeat, now.

"It must be behind the picture…" Maya Eva reasoned.

Gathering her strength, Maya Eva charged and dug through the picture. Before she knew it, she was engulfed in the wall. _No need to panic…stay calm…_ she thought, then she reached out with one arm, digging.

"OW!" Maya Eva yelled as her hand collided with a hard object.

Wait a minute! The key! Trying to conceal her excitement, Maya Eva grabbed the key with both hands, and dug her way out of the wall.

Holding it out in front of her, she smiled, proud of her accomplishment. Wait another minute….Maya Eva sighed. She was covered in dust. Then, without thinking further, she shook like a dog would after it had taken a bath. She looked back down at herself, and then smiled.

"NEXT!" she yelled, jumping out of the room to find the other key.

A few minutes later, Knuckles and Maya Eva found all three keys.

"Nice job. Let's get back to the others," Knuckles said.

Maya Eva nodded, smiling proudly. She was excited, and couldn't wait to tell Shani about it all!

After taking a few steps, the ground rumbled. "What was that?" Maya Eva whispered, waking up from her short daydream.

The ground rumbled again. "I don't know…but I don't like it," Knuckles replied.

Suddenly, a shadow came over Maya Eva and Knuckles, but the teal echidna was the only one who looked behind.

"Kn-kn-n-n-n-Knuckles?" Maya Eva stammered, poking the red echidna in fear.

"What?" Knuckles looked behind him. His eyes opened wide.

There behind them was the biggest ghost he had ever seen.

"I thought ghosts didn't exist…" Maya Eva whispered.

"I guess they do…" Knuckles gulped.

"WAAAAAAAAAA!" the ghost roared, making the room they were in shake.

"This is not good…" Maya Eva concluded.

Knuckles nodded.

Narrowing its eyes, the ghost backed up, then charged at them, full throttle.

"RUN!" Maya Eva exclaimed, and in an instant both of them were fleeing from the towering ghost.

Knuckles looked back at him, and noticed that the ghost wasn't going to give up.

"We're running around in circles…" Maya Eva informed in a sing-song voice.

"And it looks like we'll have to get rid of him. He's not giving up…" Knuckles added.

"Well then what do you suggest!" the teal echidna inquired.

"I suggest you be quiet and listen to my plan!" Knuckles retorted, and shared his idea.

"Sure it will work?" Maya Eva asked.

"Positive. Now SPLIT!" Suddenly, the two echidnas split up as one ran up the giant cylinder in the middle, and the other kept running.

Just as Knuckles said, the ghost kept following him. Maya Eva, rushed over to the other side of the cylinder, where a rope hanged from the ceiling. Reaching out with one hand, Maya Eva almost reached it when the ghost disappeared and re-appeared in front of her!

"AH!" startled, the teal echidna fell on her bottom, and didn't notice the rainbow gem that fell from a pocket of hers…

With one swing of an arm, the ghost made the rope slide to the other side of the room, making it unreachable from the cylinder.

"No!" Knuckles spat, and stopped running.

The ghost floated threateningly towards the fallen echidna.

"EVA! THE GEM!" Knuckles yelled at the top of his lungs.

Taking a quick glance, she saw the Rainbow gem and grabbed it, raising it, hoping it would do the same as it did to the robot earlier. Instead, a blue ring made of light, erupted from the gem and expanded at a shocking rate, knocking out everything in its path…except for the ghost.

Instead, the ghost simply screamed and covered its eyes, stunned for the moment.

"Knuckles, NOW!" Maya Eva yelled, making sure that the ghost stayed stunned.

Almost as quick as Sonic, Knuckles climbed up the cylinder. Once reaching the top, he jumped off and glided towards the rope. Finally, he got a firm grip, and allowed himself to drop, dangling from the rope.

Suddenly, holes in the ceiling appeared, allowing light to flood the entire room. Eventually, it reached the ghost.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!" it screamed helplessly.

Maya Eva stood up as Knuckles returned to her side, and together, they watched as the ghost evaporated into thin air.

Silence lasted a moment.

"Well….that was fun!" Maya Eva said.

Knuckles rolled his eyes and about collapsed.

The teal echidna giggled. "Come on," she said, "Let's get back to the others."

……...

"I'm gonna SO beat you!" they heard Shani declare as they reunited with the group.

Sonic snickered. "I'd like to see you try!"

"Try what?" Maya Eva asked.

"Me, Shani, Sonic, and Darkness—"

"Sonic, Shani, Darkness and I!" Tia informed, correcting Jet's grammar.

"Sorry! Shani, Sonic, Darkness and I, " Jet glanced at Tia before continuing, "Are going to race to the end of the next tunnel, or room of some sort!"

Knuckles rolled his eyes. "All right, as long as I don't get hurt!"

"I'll tell them when they can start!" Krystal offered.

Knuckles nodded, and Krystal excitedly hopped over to her position.

Maya Eva, Tia, Lee, Amy and Tails stood over to the side, cheering on their favorite racer.

"GO SHANI!" Maya Eva cried, cupping her hands around her mouth.

"YOU CAN BEAT 'EM, SONIC!" Tails and Amy encouraged. Sonic winked in reply, getting down on the ground so one knee could just barely touch it. The other three did the same.

"COME ON, DARKNESS!" Tia yelled.

"LET'S GO JET!" Lee exclaimed.

"Now, before we begin the race—"

"Yeah, yeah, we know, Knuckles. We can run into anything but you. We. Know. Just start the race already!" Sonic interrupted.

Knuckles "hmphed", then turned around, putting one key in at a time.

"On your mark…" Krystal started.

Shani tensed up. _Just relax, Bridget, _she told herself, _it'll be all right. You can do it! You can beat 'em!_

"Get set…"

_It's just like when me and Bridget—excuse me, Bridget and I—raced in the city. The only difference is: We're in a pyramid, _Jet thought.

Knuckles finally opened the door, revealing a giant room full of loop-di-loops and long run aisles.

_The perfect place for running, _Sonic thought excitedly.

The red echidna stepped out of the way so then he wouldn't get hurt.

_Be ready for anything, Kogome, _Darkness thought, all ready to burst out running.

"GO!".

In a flash of light, the three runners were off, dashing like lightning across the room and into another, neck-to-neck.

"How are we going to keep up with them?" Maya Eva wondered.

As an answer, Tails walked up in his cyclone, with Lee in the seat behind.

"Want a ride?" Tails asked, and the others smiled.

Meanwhile, the four runners were going as fast as they could, each feeling the need-for-speed pulsing through their veins. It was a rare feeling only a few can experience: running as fast as the speed of sound—and Darkness, Shani, and Jet should consider themselves lucky. But only one of them will be able to experience traveling as fast as the speed of light….

_Hey, this makes me think of a song! _Sonic thought excitedly. Before he knew it, everyone in the room instantly felt the song around them, like it was floating in the air, wishing them to win.

The song went something like this….

_Well I don't show off, don't criticize_

_I'm just livin' by my own feelings_

_And I won't give in, won't compromise_

'_Cause I only have a steadfast heart of gold!_

_I don't know why, I can' leave though it might be tough_

_Don't ask me why, I don't need a reason_

_I got my way_

_My own way!_

_It doesn't matter_

_Now what happens_

_I will never_

_Give up the fight!_

_Long as the voice inside drives me to run and fight_

_It doesn't matter who is wrong and who is right!_

_Well, I won't look back-- don't need to!_

_Time won't wait and I got so much to do!_

_Where do I stop now?_

_It's all a blur and so unclear!_

_Well, I don't know, but I can't be wrong!_

_It doesn't matter_

_Now what happens_

_I will never_

_Give up the fight!_

_Long as the voice inside drives me to run and fight_

_Place all your bets on the one you think is right!_

"Whoa!" Darkness yelled as she didn't quite make it around the loop. "Aaaaaaaaaaah!"

"Gotcha!" Tails said, catching the hedgehog in the TORNADO before she could hit the ground.

"Thanks, Tails," Darkness breathed with a hint of disappointment in her voice.

"No pro—SHANI!" Tails had to veer over and down to catch the light blue hedgehog, too.

"Aw, man!" Shani complained, crossing her arms over her chest.

"Its okay, Shani," Maya Eva patted her friend on the back, "You'll win next time."

Shani smiled. "I hope so…thanks, Eva."

Maya Eva smiled.

"Hey! They're close to the end!" Amy shouted, and everyone looked at the last two racers.

_It doesn't matter!_

"Hey, you're pretty good to keep up with the world's fastest hedgehog!" Sonic admitted.

_Now what happens!_

"Thanks…" Jet replied, and then silently added: _It's always an honor to run with the blue blur anyway._

_I will never_

_Give up the fight!_

_Long as the voice inside drives me to run and fight…_

_It doesn't matter who is wrong and who is right!_

Right then, they were neck-and-neck, with the finish close ahead.

_No, no, no, no…IT DOESN'T MATTER!  
_

And in that split-second, Sonic inched ahead, just to win it, but on the other hand, Jet had slowed down.

"Woohoo! Hey, Jet, why did you—" Sonic's voice trailed off as he noticed Jet was staring at something behind him—not in a friendly glance.

As the TORNADO landed beside her, they also saw what she saw. That intrigued Sonic to turn around—that was when it was his turn to glare angrily.

In front of them was none other than Doctor Eggman himself.

"Greetings, Sonic…and everyone else," he said in that I-know-something-that-will-destroy-you voice.

"Hello, Eggman," Jet retorted.

Eggman just grinned. "I bet you know now that I have a base in outer space…"

"—tell us something we don't know!" Sonic replied in a snotty tone.

Eggman chose to ignore that comment and continued, "Well, I'm afraid you won't be allowed to go into outer space unless you take a rocket—and the only one here is the one we're using."

"Your point is?" Lee questioned.

"My point is!" Eggman was getting annoyed with the interruptions. "That you won't be able to be stowaways. I'm very sorry, but my little friend here wants some fun…."

At that instant the pyramid rumbled and quaked.

"Sonic! Look!" Tails exclaimed, pointing a finger at a rising figure.

"No way!" Sonic gasped.

As the pyramid settled, everyone could see a gigantic stone statue—that seemed to be alive and working.

"I bet that's a machine!" Amy claimed.

"Right you are, Amy," Eggman replied, smiling. The mad scientist took a glance at his watch. "Oh, look at the time! I'd love to stay and chat, but it looks like I have some…plans."

Eggman laughed as he floated away in his hover-seat.

"Wait a minute…Sonic! Eggman's distracting us so then we can't get on the spaceship! What are we gonna do?" Tails asked.

"I'll tell you what you're gonna do: you're gonna get on that ship! Leave it to me to defeat this creep!" the blue hedgehog replied.

"Are you sure you can fight him on your own?" Lee wondered.

"Are you kidding? Of course he can! Don't you remember?" Jet questioned as she hopped inside the TORNADO.

Lee thought a minute, then gave the 'o' expression.

"Good luck, Sonic!" Amy wished, really having a hard time leaving him there.

Sonic nodded, and then waited until they were gone.

"Well, I guess it's just you and me, isn't it?" Sonic grinned.

The stone roared, and raised its hand to crush the blue hedgehog once and for all.


	9. Chapter 9

It was that dream again. She was running; running as fast as her legs would take her. She could barely breathe, and felt as if her lungs would burst. MJ looked behind her; that black figure still followed her.

Finally, she tripped, and instantly turned over to lie on her back. In horror, she saw the figure rising what she could guess was its hand, ready to strike her…and yet again, time seemed to stop as she suddenly saw all seven of her friends in their majestic form she saw before…only this time, she saw something different. Instead of looking like king and queens….they _were _king and queens. She looked at each of them in awe—until her eyes met Shani's. MJ could only stare at them as they looked into hers. MJ could see the hurt, the feeling of being betrayed in her eyes, and wished that she could hug her friend…but, even though she didn't know who made Shani feel this way, she could guess. It was her. It was her who made Shani feel this way. It was her who betrayed them. It was her who hurt them!

Tears filled MJ's eyes as her mind screamed, _What did I do! I didn't do anything! Why is this happening!_

Time resumed, and the figure gave no mercy. In an instant, MJ could see a dagger form inside its hand. Then, without warning, the figure plunged it at her…

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!" MJ screamed as she instantly sat up, her fur damp with sweat.

"MJ!" came Shadow's voice as the black hedgehog peeked around the corner; his eyes showed that he was concerned. "What's wrong?"

"I…I…" MJ felt around a bit, making sure that everything was real, and sure enough, everything was.

"Had a bad dream?" it was that ivory bat, who was standing behind Shadow.

MJ looked at Rouge, surprised. "How did you know?"

"Shadow had one, too."

MJ immediately turned to see that Shadow was looking at the ground. "Wh-what was it about?"

Rouge sauntered inside the room. "Oh…just about you…" she said, giving her famous smile.

MJ looked at Shadow again, shocked. She couldn't help herself but ask, "What about me?" even though she already knew what had happened to her in Shadow's nightmare.

MJ could barely hear Shadow's response as he muttered, "You died."

For a split second MJ thought she was going to faint. She looked over at Rouge, who was trying to find something of particular interest. Obviously, she wasn't too ecstatic about dreams.

"I _died?_ How!" MJ's voice started to get more demanding as she got more and more frightened.

No one replied.

MJ looked at Shadow, and curled up into a little ball. She didn't want to die! She didn't want to die! MJ could actually feel fear consume her entire being as her mind kept yelling, _I don't want to die! I don't want to die!_

Rouge finally looked at the seal and said, "….It's just a dream, anyway. Not like it will actually happen."

MJ looked at Rouge, and shook her head; her eyes were wide open. "No…" she murmured, "…It wasn't just a dream…I had it, too."

At that instant, Shadow looked up at MJ for the first time that day. Rouge looked like she had seen an elephant walk across on tight-rope-wire.

MJ looked down, and started rocking back and forth, regretting that she told them.

Rouge looked at Shadow, then back at MJ. "Well," she said, trying to cheer up the matter, "I think we should start heading to ARK."

No one answered. Both Shadow and MJ just stared at Rouge as she gave an encouraging smile. When that didn't work, she said, "It won't do any good just moping about it. Come on; let's get it off our minds."

Shadow and MJ glanced at each other before nodding.

Rouge smiled. "Come on, I'll show you where the trasnporter is!"

…………

"Wow! What a spaceship!" Shani exclaimed, clearly fascinated by all the bright flashing buttons.

Tails looked down into his TORNADO and saw the single chaos emerald they had. He sighed. The enemy had the others...and they were probably after him for this one! The fox instantly felt a great weight on his shoulders.

He felt a hand on his shoulder, and looked up, hoping to see Sonic…but instead he saw Jet.

"Tails…I have to say. You're lucky," Jet informed.

Tails looked up at Jet as the brown animal debated whether or not she should tell him.

"How?" he asked.

"Well…" she hesitated, and made her choice. "If we weren't here, then….then Eggman would have been chasing you a long time ago…for the chaos emerald."

Tails looked at the jewel in his hands and nodded. "They're probably wanting it right now…"

Jet agreed. "I bet they are."

"I'm getting impatient!" Lee announced. "Sonic should've been here by now!"

"Just wait," Jet commanded, and Lee didn't argue. "He'll be here soon enough."

A while had passed, and Maya Eva and Shani were discussing the buttons, Krystal was sitting in an awkward position in her chair, fiddling with her fingers, Tails was staring at the chaos emerald while Jet stood above him, watching the digital clock in the ship, Lee had his chin propped up on his elbows as he sat beside Knuckles who was tapping his fingers on the metal control board, and Tia, Darkness, and Amy were playing down-by-the-banks without the singing.

"That's it!" Lee stood up, turning to Jet. "He's not coming! Even you have to admit!"

Jet hesitated, and then nodded.

Tails was worried. "We need to send somebody to help him—and quick! He could be in huge danger by now!"

At once, a million voices suggested to go, but Jet shushed them all…except for one.

"Please let me go, Jet. PLEASE?" Jet turned to see the pleading look on Shani's face.

Jet studied her a moment, and then nodded. "Shani will go," she replied.

"YES!" Shani jumped up to her feet, ready to take off.

"SHANI, WAIT!" Jet stopped the light blue hedgehog before she exited the ship.

"Be careful," she said.

Shani nodded and gave a thumb up. But, just before she could take another step, someone else called out.

"SHANI!" it was Maya Eva.

"What?" the light blue hedgehog looked over to see her best friend say, "Remember how I told you that next time you'd win?"

Shani nodded.

"Well…I think that this is the time," the teal echidna looked at her friend with the biggest faith in the world.

Shani smiled, and replied, "I won't let you down, Maya Eva!"

"SHANI!" it was Knuckles.

"What?" Shani asked, a little irritated.

"This is bad…really bad…" Lee muttered.

Shani's heart fell as she asked, "What's bad?"

"The ship has taken an automatic lift-off countdown!" Knuckles announced.

"WHAT!" everyone exclaimed simultaneously.

"It will launch in 1 hour—whether we like it or not!" Lee added.

Shani took a quick glance at Maya Eva, and said, "I think this IS the time!"

"You can win! I KNOW YOU CAN!" Shani heard her friend shout as she ran out of the spaceship.

The light blue hedgehog racked her brain to remember how Sonic defeated the Egg Golem. She remembered the steps on his back, and the bright buttons on the last three steps…For a minute, Shani tried to think of how pretty the buttons were on the game. She shook her head. _Come on, Bridget! Focus! _She thought, and continued running.

Finally, she reached the room where the Egg Golem was standing still, looking for its opponent. Shani stopped and looked around. Where was Sonic? She looked down. The quicksand! Without thinking, the light blue hedgehog jumped off the platform and reached the sand.

"Oh!" she complained, having to keep jumping to stay up. "Sonic!" she yelled. "Sonic, where—" Shani gasped. She saw the gloved fingers slowly sinking into the sand.

"No!" She yelled, and hopped with one foot at a time towards the last spot she saw his hand. _He probably can't breathe! _Shani panicked.

Instantly, she dug her hands in the sand, and reached around. When her arms bumped into a solid object, she heaved with all her might to pull it up—but it was no use. She was sinking, too. 

"HELP!" Shani screamed, trying in vain to pull the suffocating blue hedgehog up out of the sand. _I have to win! I just HAVE to! Rachel knows I can—and so does everyone else!_

Flashback

"Don't worry, next time you'll win! I know you will!"

End Flashback

With gritted teeth, Shani heaved again. Suddenly, her mind clicked—and just in time; the sand was up to her waist. With a deep breath, Shani ran as fast as she could, and before she knew it, she was making the sand around her fly away. With that in mind for encouragement, the hedgehog ran harder. As little beads of sweat crawled down her forehead, she looked around for the handle to haul them up to the platforms. Finally, she found it, and once her legs were free, she ran toward it, still dragging the unconscious Sonic. With the last ounce of her strength, Shani tugged on the handle, and sure enough, it carried them up to the platforms, where Shani literally just plopped off, exhausted.

After panting a few breaths, she could hear Sonic choking. Finally, she sat up, thankful that the Egg Golem had not seen them yet.

"Sonic?" she called.

The blue hedgehog opened his eyes, coughing, "Shani? Why aren't you on the spaceship?"

"I came to get you! We were worried," Shani explained as the blue hedgehog sat up.

"Thanks. You did a great job. But now," Sonic stood up, "I've got a rock to get back at!"

Shani smiled, and then watched as Sonic hopped up the platforms on the giant statue's back until he reached the last three. Then, he did a homing-attack on all three buttons and finally did a final homing-attack on the monster's head.

The Egg Golem cracked with electricity as it finally bent down and toppled over, defeated.

"Wow…did you already do that a few times?" Shani inquired, staring at the heap of rock.

Sonic nodded. "Yep, but that last time, I got stuck."

Shani gave an 'o' expression. Something then caught her eye. It was a clock. On it, it read: 2:55. Shani gasped. They only had five minutes left before the shuttle took off!

"Sonic! We have to get to the spaceship! It will take off with or without us in five minutes!" she exclaimed.

"WHAT! We better get outta here!" With that said, Sonic scooped up the light blue hedgehog in his arms, and made a dash for the exit.

Shani, surprised that Sonic had picked her up, couldn't help it but cling to the closest thing she could find: his neck.

"Shani…you're choking me…" Sonic muttered, still running.

"Oh…sorry," the light blue hedgehog loosened her grip, but still had her arms around him.

……….

"They've only got 3 minutes left!" Knuckles announced.

"Sonic!" Amy whined.

"You think they'll make it?" Krystal asked.

Maya Eva turned to Krystal. "I have no doubt that they'll make it."

And sure enough, they heard a resounding _BOOM _that knocked them off their feet.

"Was that…?" Knuckles didn't finish.

Krystal finished for him. "A sonic boom!"

Everyone's hearts filled with joy as they gathered around to await their friends' arrival. Little did they know that the countdown was still ticking one minute left…

…….

Shani couldn't speak. Her ears were ringing from the sonic boom that they made.

"Hold on, Shani! Here comes another one!" Sonic warned.

"Oh no…" Shani braced herself as they rammed through their sound barrier, making a loud, _BOOM! _

"How can you stand those?" Shani yelled, feeling as if she were deaf.

Sonic gave his famous smile, saying, "Oh, I'm used to it."

Shani mumbled something as they continued on, and glanced up. "The spaceship!" she exclaimed.

……

The group was cheering for them, urging them to hurry…but Maya Eva was the loudest. Lee happened to look behind him to see how much time they had. His heart sank.

"Guys…" he croaked.

Everyone looked at him, wondering why he wasn't excited. Darkness got the message. "What's wrong?" she asked, knowing the answer.

"We're taking o—" at that instant, the ship started to rumble, and everyone fell on their bottoms.

"SHANI!" Maya Eva yelled, struggled to get up, but when she did, she only fell down again.

"We've got to get buckled in the seats!" Knuckles shouted.

Everyone hustled over to a chair and buckled themselves in….everyone except Maya Eva.

"Eva, you've got to get in a chair!" Jet yelled at her, so then she could be heard over the roar.

"No! I'm not settling down unless I know that Shani is here!" Maya Eva retorted.

"Eva, come to your senses! It's ridiculous to stand and wait when you can sit and wait!" Jet yelled.

Finally, Maya Eva agreed, and sat down in the seat right in front of the door as Jet sat in a seat in front of her.

"Hold on!" Lee shouted.

Maya Eva did hold on—to her faith that Shani and Sonic would make it. Her hot pink eyes watched the open doorway, until finally, she could make out the faintest blue spot….

"SONIC! SHANI!" Maya Eva yelled excitedly as they brushed past her—just as the shuttle took off.

"Oh, my—AH!" Shani exclaimed, feeling the intense pressure as they lifted off into space.

Everyone couldn't speak—they could barely breathe! The force was so strong that all they could do was hold on for their life.

After a while, the force lightened, and Sonic was able to join Knuckles and Lee at the control board.

Tia, sitting near a window, watched in awe as she saw the earth shrink and shrink as they went farther and farther away from it.

"It…it's beautiful…" she gasped.

Darkness, who was sitting behind her, nodded. "I agree…."

"It looks so…different," Shani said.

Maya Eva laughed. "That's because we are looking at it from a different point of view," she replied, happy that her friend was alive.

"Whoa! What happened to the moon?" Sonic pointed toward the giant grey rock, which had the top of it no longer there.

"It looks like if something zapped it!" Krystal noted.

Knuckles nodded, and looked down. "Eggman did it."

"What!" everyone said in unison, turning to their red echidna friend.

"He did it while you were sleeping at that apartment," he answered.

Sonic growled. "Oh, that Eggman! When will he ever give up?"

Silence settled as either everyone was watching in awe at the earth or were just plain bored.

"Hey," Tails exclaimed suddenly, "I see the ARK!"

Everyone at once saw the gigantic space colony.

"It's huge…" Maya Eva whispered.

"Yeah," Shani gulped, "It's like they say: everything looks different when you're actually in the game."

Maya Eva gave a half-hearted chuckle. "Yeah. Literally."

Suddenly, the shuttle hit an asteroid, making everyone bump around.

"Is everyone all right?" Jet asked.

"Yeah…but the cargo hold isn't!" Knuckles informed.

"Don't sweat it, Knuckles. The only thing in that storage is the Master Emerald shards!" Sonic replied.

"What do you mean, 'no sweat'!" Knuckles argued.

"It's not the end of the world if you lose them."

"Yes it is! We need to go after them!"

"No we don't! Just land on ARK! You'll find them!"

"No! We have to go after them!" with that said, Knuckles reached for a switch.

Sonic gasped. "NO! DON'T TOUCH THAT LEVER!"

Too late. Knuckles had already pulled it, making the whole shuttle spin into what seemed like endless space…


	10. Chapter 10

"Oh…that Knucklehead! Just what does he think he was doing!" Sonic grumbled, now onboard the ARK.

"I don't know….but whatever he was doing, he better not do it again or else…" Jet said, stretching her back.

"Wow…this place looks like nobody's been here for a long time!" Maya Eva commented.

"This place was shut down over 50 years ago because of a terrible accident," Tails informed.

"What was the accident…do you know?" Amy asked.

Tails shook his head, but the seven friends from earth looked down, having flashbacks of the game.

"You guys know….don't you?" Sonic inquired.

They all nodded.

"Well, what was it?" Amy asked.

Each of them had a hard time saying it, but Darkness finally spoke up, "It wasn't really an accident….it was said to be of an accident, but we believe it was more like this place was shut down because of the power it contained."

"What do you mean?" Tails questioned.

Darkness glanced at her friends before replying, "The space colony ARK was the most advanced resource center of it's kind—as you know, Tails. It had many weapons, even one that once with all seven chaos emeralds could destroy an entire planet."

Tails' eyes opened wide as his mind clicked. "That's why they want my chaos emerald!"

"AND that's how they destroyed part of the moon!" Sonic added. "They must have only had some of the chaos emeralds, and performed a demonstration as a warning of what it can do!"

Darkness nodded.

"But….how do we stop him from destroying earth?" Amy asked.

At that moment, Tails brought up a laptop and began typing into its keys. "I think I may know how…."

Everyone gathered around the fox to see what he was doing.

"There is a strong signal coming from the ship's core—that must be where the other emeralds are hidden!" Tails informed.

"Wow….Eggman has six chaos emeralds?" Tia remarked.

Tails nodded, and at that moment, a small box appeared beside him, and opened up, revealing what looked like a chaos emerald.

"Wait a minute….that's the fake chaos emerald!" Shani said in recognition.

"A fake chaos emerald?" Amy repeated.

Tails nodded. "I made a fake one after studying the real one. It has the same wavelengths and properties, but is less powerful than the real one! It was designed to reverse the chaos emeralds' power core and then blow up. It looks so real, even a machine can't tell the difference!" Tails then handed Sonic the fake emerald, saying, "Sonic, I'll destroy the power supply while you put the emerald in place!'

"So the plan is, before the cannon fires, we'll switch the emeralds!" Sonic concluded.

Tails nodded, then added, "But you can't do it alone. I would suggest Jet go with you."

"WHAT!" Jet exclaimed, taking a step back. "Why me?"

"Because you were the only one who was able to handle all the loops and jumps back in the pyramid base. If you can survive those, you should be able to survive this!" Tails said.

"Oh…" Jet whined, having doubt.

"Jet….listen," Maya Eva said, her hope once again rising. "I know you can do this. Remember before we even came here, when you and K—I mean—Lee were playing this game? Remember? You wouldn't stop playing it because you were bound determined to defeat Lee! You knew you could beat him; all you had to do was never give up! And remember when you were so close to finishing the game? You didn't want to stop because deep down, you knew you could defeat it. You knew you could win. Why don't you believe you can now?"

Jet looked down, debating whether she could do it or not...but in the back of her head, she could barely, just barely hear the whisper of a voice saying, **_You can do it Destiny. Trust me; rely on me. I shall help you._**

She didn't know who it was, but she had a feeling she knew. As she started to want to listen to the voice, it became louder in her head, until all she could hear was, **_I promise you this: you will overcome this darkness, this evil, before it is too late._**

_I don't know who you are, _she thought back, _but, I trust you to keep your promise._

**_I will…._** the voice replied. Jet finally opened her eyes and looked ahead of her. The instant she looked up, the most amazing thing happened to her. She felt as if a fire was suddenly lit up inside of her, like she was that fire. She felt a flame in her heart….and yet, Jet knew that that flame inside her was that promise the voice made. The fire in her heart suddenly stretched through her arms and her legs and all her body until she felt stronger, more courageous, and most of all….she felt like kicking some Eggman-behind.

"So, you ready, Jet?" Sonic asked.

Jet smiled as she replied. "You bet."

"All right, then with that settled, Lee and I will go and destroy the power supply," Tails informed.

"But what about us?" Shani asked.

"You, Maya Eva, Darkness and Tia can go look for Knuckles; who knows where he is!" Sonic said.

"But, what about—"

"Let's head out!" Tails said, and the others set off, not letting Amy finish her question.

Krystal glanced at Amy, who had her fists clenched. "Amy…" she said slowly.

"OH, I HATE THEM! They always leave me behind and have all the fun!" Amy exclaimed.

Krystal rolled her eyes. "I think they're officially doing the same thing to me, too," she said.

Amy looked at her friend, feeling a little bit encouraged. "Yeah…no offense…"

Krystal gave a wave of her hand. "None taken."

It was at that moment that Amy realized something. "Krystal…you've changed."

"I have?" the white hedgehog replied.

"Yeah. You're no longer scared of going on these dangerous missions!" Amy informed. "You're actually being carefree for once."

Krystal thought for a minute, and then said, "I guess I am…"

Without warning, Amy hugged her. "I'm so proud of you! Now I bet you can sing in front of a giant crowd!"

Krystal's eyes opened wide. "Um….I think that's still something I need to work on…"

Amy let go of Krystal and put her hands on her hips, "What do you mean?"

"I mean….it just scares me because I'll be wondering if they think I'm a good singer or a bad singer," Krystal replied.

Amy thought for a minute. "I'll give you that one…."

Krystal let out a sigh of relief, but the feeling didn't last long, as suddenly a shadow towered over them and a voice said, "Well, well, well….what have we got here?"

In a flash, Krystal and Amy turned around, discovering the bearer of the voice.

"Eggman!"

………..

MJ walked down the steel hallway, looking for a room in particular. _Where is it? _she thought. Her eyes didn't stop looking at the different doors, but they didn't have signs on them, which didn't help much.

"I wonder if Shadow knows…." She whispered, and as if someone had read her mind, Shadow suddenly stepped out of a room, which startled her.

"AH!" she screamed in surprise.

Shadow stared blankly at her. "What?"

"N-nothing….you just surprised me…" MJ replied, her hand clutching her shirt.

Shadow and MJ stared at each other a minute in silence. Finally, Shadow spoke: "Follow me…"

MJ was stunned at Shadow's sudden command, but the hedgehog turned around, and motioned with his hand that he wanted her to enter into the room that had been behind him. MJ obeyed, and walked up to the door, beside the ebony hedgehog.

"Now…close your eyes…" Shadow said.

MJ was even more curious as to what the ebony hedgehog was getting at, but complied.

Shadow took a hold of her hand, and MJ could hear her heart beating a mile a minute. Then, she heard the door open. She was led in a couple steps, and then Shadow let go of her hand to close the door. As he stood behind her, he finally commanded, "Now…open your eyes…"

MJ obeyed. Her breath was taken away as she gaped at what she saw. She saw stars all around her. She was in a round room that was made of windows, to allow you to see outer space, and it was breathtaking.

"I've never seen so many stars…" she whispered, walking over to the glass wall—but then again, she was surrounded by glass walls. She could see stars under her, over her—everywhere!

Shadow finally had the courage to speak. "Do you like it?"

"Do I like it!" MJ gave a chuckle. "I LOVE it! How did you do this!" the seal turned around, smiling.

_They have the same smile, too…_Shadow thought. "This room used to be a room for Maria to experience what life was like on earth."

MJ's smile faded as she stood wide-eyed. THIS was that room! What happened to it?

"What? What's wrong?" Shadow inquired, thinking that MJ might not like his surprise anymore.

"How in the world did something like that become something like this!" MJ questioned, amazed.

"By taking out the panels that created the effects for Maria…" Shadow explained slowly.

MJ's smile returned as she turned back around to gaze out the windows. "Wow…."

Shadow once again relaxed. "I thought you might like to see the stars…" he said.

"Oh, Shadow, I loved it! Thank you so much!" Without warning, MJ turned around and hugged Shadow.

The ebony hedgehog froze. What….why did he suddenly feel like his cheeks were getting warm? What is this feeling he's experiencing while this seal is hugging him?

MJ finally opened her eyes wide and let go, blushing madly. "Umm…I need to go…" MJ surged out of the room, leaving Shadow staring and pondering.

Finally, the ebony hedgehog walked over to the front glass wall.

"Maria…." He whispered, staring at the stars. "Somehow, I believe that you haven't left me just yet…." With that, he quietly left the room.

………

"All right!" Tails cheered.

"Die, robots die!" Lee said, imitating an evil voice.

Tails made an odd face. "What was THAT supposed to be?" he asked.

"Um….I don't know," Lee admitted, still aiming for all the G.U.N. robots.

The fearless duo kept at this before they entered a certain room where little packs were attached to the top of differently colored doors.

"Lee, I have to warn you: don't aim for those packs," Tails said.

"Why not?" the fox replied.

"If you do, then the door will fly away, and we'll be sucked into outer space forever," Tails informed.

Lee shuddered at the thought, and agreed to not aim for them.

They continued their mission, then came into another room, where single giant tubes where coming from the floor to the ceiling.

"Don't aim for those tubes either," Tails warned.

"Let me guess, they'll make a giant explosion?" Lee asked.

Tails smiled. "You got it!"

They continued their journey, doing very well, and destroying all the robots in their path, until suddenly, a robot jumped in front of them, and started firing at them.

"AH!" Lee screamed in surprise, and accidentally hit the "fire" button, shooting at a different location: a tube.

"Lee! NO!" Tails shouted. "I just told you NOT to!"

"Sorry!" Lee shouted back.

Both of the foxes covered their heads as the explosion destroyed the robot, but also sent them flying. Unfortunately, the explosion destroyed a pack, which opened a door. Bad news is: they were heading straight for that opening.

"Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!" Tails screamed in horror, fearing the worst.

Lee could only stare at their fate, too stunned to do anything. Frantically, he looked around, hoping to find something that could save them. He began panicking.

_Think, KT, think! _he thought, looking around.

They were being drawn into the opening which would lead them to their death faster and faster.

_THINK KT! _Lee's mind screamed.

The endless blackness became larger and larger, ushering them into it.

_THINK! _

Bing! Lee's mind clicked. With newfound courage, Lee aimed for the next pack right across from them. With great accuracy, Lee was able to hit the pack, causing the other door to fly away, too. The force from both openings fought against them, until they were dragged to the middle of the room.

"Tails! Let's get out of here!" Lee yelled.

Tails opened his eyes, which had been shut closed. The fox took a moment to realize he was alive before putting his hands on the control and pushing with all of his might to go forward. Even Lee put his weight toward the front to help. Finally, they were able to get free from the current, and escape the room.

Once out of there, the duo didn't get a rest; more robots were waiting for them. With great determination, Lee and Tails defeated them, and continued their mission in silence, until they finally reached their goal.

"Yes…" Lee breathed, leaning back in his seat, exhausted.

Tails was staring for a minute at the controls, and then looked back at his partner, saying, "How did you get us out of there?"

"Out of what?" Lee asked, sitting up.

"Out of the opening."

Lee smiled. "I just made the force from both sides of us equal, so then we could get out of there," he answered.

Tails was silent a moment. Finally he said, "Thank you."

Lee raised an eyebrow in confusion. "For what?"

"For saving my life."

Lee didn't say anything for a while, shocked that the fox had said that—and shocked at himself. He did save their lives. He was a hero.

"You're welcome," Lee finally replied.

Tails looked at Lee and smiled. "We make a pretty good team."

Lee smiled, too. "You bet we do!"

There was silence a moment, before Tails changed the subject. "We better see how Sonic and Jet are doing…" with that said, he reached for a walkie-talkie.

Tails held down the talk button, and said, "Hey, Sonic. This is Tails, can you hear me?"

………….

"Hey, Sonic. This is Tails, can you hear me?" buzzed the walkie-talkie.

"Yeah, I hear ya loud and clear, Tails!" Sonic answered, running as he did so.

Jet listened, too, running beside Sonic with almost-equal speed.

"Where are you?" Tails asked.

"We're….whoa…." Sonic stopped running, and stopped answering as he stared at what was in front of him. Jet stopped beside him.

"Sonic?" Tails called.

"I'm here…."

"Are you okay?"

"Yeah, just amazed at the core…it's way past cool!" Sonic commented.

"Yeah, amazing that they had this technology over 50 years ago, isn't it?" Tails asked as Sonic and Jet began to walk up the narrow walkway toward the core.

"You bet it is! Now, where do I put the chaos emerald?" Sonic asked.

"You need to put it—" Tails' reply was cut off by a familiar voice, saying, "Tails. Tell Sonic that if he doesn't come back here, then—" Tails then came back on, and said, "Sonic, Amy and Krystal is—" Then, silence.

Sonic waited a moment, before saying, "Tails, what happened to Amy and Krystal?"

No reply.

"TAILS!" Sonic cried into the walkie-talkie.

Nothing.

Sonic glanced at Jet, and both of their hearts fell as they knew what happened: Eggman had Amy and Krystal.

Without warning, Jet slammed her fist against the metal desk. "Stupid, stupid, stupid!" she cried. "Why didn't I think of it before!"

"Think of what?" Sonic asked, shocked by Jet's outburst.

Jet looked at the blue hedgehog before replying, "I should've known…I should've caught up on it…."

"Should've caught up on what!" Sonic asked.

"That Eggman would capture Amy and Krystal."

Sonic didn't say anything for a moment as everything in his head began to fall together. "It was part of the game, wasn't it?" he asked quietly.

Jet nodded somberly. "And I know what's going to happen next…" she said.

Their conversation was interrupted as Eggman's voice boomed throughout the room, announcing, "Sonic! If you don't come here right now, they WILL die!"

Jet and Sonic glanced at each other, before taking off at high speeds.

………….

"Is it really THIS hard to find Knuckles?" Shani asked.

"I say we have a bad search…" Darkness said.

"Why do you say that?" Tia asked.

"Because," Darkness replied, "We have no solid leads as to where he his—nor do we have a way to find him."

"I think I might have a way…" Maya Eva informed quietly.

"You do?" Shani said excitedly.

"Yes…I remember how to find treasure, like Knuckles taught me. If I can find where a master emerald shard is, then maybe we might be able to find him," the teal echidna answered.

"Great idea!" Tia praised.

"It's better than having to blindly search for him! Let's do it!" Shani agreed.

"Um…only one slight problem," Maya Eva interrupted.

"What's that?" Tia asked, even though she already knew the answer.

"I won't be able to get a reading unless I'm somewhere close to the shards…so I might have no idea where they are."

Everyone gave a sigh.

"Well…we could find one of those computers to give us hints!" Tia suggested.

"Another great idea! Let's find one!" Shani said excitedly, and led the way as the quartet began their search for a floating computer.

It didn't take long to find one, though…

"Hey, everybody! I found one!" Shani exclaimed, and the other three went to join their friend, who was staring at the words on the screen:

**Somewhere high**

"Oh, THAT helps!" Maya Eva retorted, not feeling the least bit enthusiastic about climbing—or gliding, for that matter (Knuckles hadn't exactly taught her that yet).

"Well…let's look for another o-" Tia's encouragement was cut off by Darkness' remark, "Hey! Here's one!"

The others went to join her too, and found their second clue:

**Blue guardian  
**

"'Blue guardian'? What kind of clue is THAT?" Shani said.

Maya Eva shrugged. "But my guess is that it's guarded by a 'blue guardian'."

"Whatever THAT means…" Darkness added.

"Let's keep searching," Tia suggested, and the other three followed the half-robot, half-hedgehog as she led them around.

"And I'm guessing that is the 'somewhere high'…" Maya Eva guessed as she pointed to a suspended technological building that had platforms against it. It was in the center of the giant meteor they were on.

"I think you're right…" Darkness agreed.

"But how in the world is she supposed to get up THERE?" Shani asked.

"Good question…" Tia commented.

"Hey, look! That…that…" Maya Eva's voice trailed off as she recognized the four pillars that were in a square formation, with walkways running from one to the other, making it look like a building, but not quite.

"That's where Knuckles and Rouge fought!" Shani remarked.

"Wow…never though it would be so tall!" Tia exclaimed.

"But remember, they haven't fought just yet," Darkness warned, "so we must be on our toes."

Maya Eva's mind was on a completely different subject…

"But, how in the world am I supposed to get from that building to the other building?" she asked.

"Well, you could jump from floating platform to floating platform!" Shani pointed to each of the floating islands that were almost, ALMOST, like stairs.

"That works!" Tia said.

"All right, Eva! You better get on up there!" Shani smiled teasingly.

"Lucky," Maya Eva mouthed to Shani, before walking toward the building to climb it.

Gathering her strength, Maya Eva climbed the building. After getting to the top, she paused to take a breath, and glanced around to find the nearest floating platform. Having found one, she backed up a bit, wondering if she could make the jump, ran, and leaped toward it. She successfully landed on her feet, a pretty good distance from the edge of the platform. She then looked for the next nearest, and next nearest, and kept leaping from one platform to the other. She was getting quite good with jumping. She started to do flips like Knuckles and Rouge did in the game—and she was getting proud of herself. Finally, before long, Maya Eva reached the suspended building. She wasn't that tired—she was actually having fun. But when she saw that she had to climb more, her heart fell. With that, she began her journey upward.

It didn't take long before a certain sensation filled her entire being….

"A master emerald shard!" Maya Eva gasped.

The teal echidna at once, began to follow the tug as it got more and more intense.

"I'm almost there," she said, "I can feel it."

Finally, she reached the platform, where the tug was pulling wildly. Thankfully, she was able to keep it under control, and landed on the platform, where she took a grateful few-seconds rest…that is, until a blue liquid-like arm struck the ground right in front of her.

With a gulp, Maya Eva looked up. There before her stood a creature like Chaos 0…except without the arms and legs….and for a head, it was more robot-like.

"'Blue guardian'!" she whispered in recognition.

As it tried to attack her again, she thought, _So the master emerald shard is inside HIM! …does that mean I have to destroy it?_

She didn't get time to answer her question; she had to dodge his attempts to get her.

"EEEEEEEEEK!" she cried as it almost struck her.

The creature paused a moment—that was all it took. Without thinking, Maya Eva jumped, pulling one leg back, and the other she swung around, and struck the opponent square in the head.

It burst away, making a small sound like a bomb exploding, and it was gone. Maya Eva, on the other hand, was staring at the prize in front of her, the master emerald shard.

"Did…did I do THAT!" she said to herself. She looked down, and then smiled with joy. She couldn't help herself but cheer just for the sheer pride of it. "YES! I did it!" She paused for a moment, feeling awkward. "It wasn't THAT big of an accomplishment…" she reminded herself, but then she grinned, "But it sure was fun!" With that said, Maya Eva grabbed her award, and was about to start climbing back down, when a certain low male voice called, "Maya Eva!"

"Knuckles!" the teal echidna turned around to see the red echidna land on the platform; he had been gliding towards her.

"Yeah, it's me. Hey, listen. It's not like me to say this, but….what you did was pretty cool," Knuckles admitted. "It was a big step."

Maya Eva's eyes opened wide. "You saw me make that kick!"

The guardian nodded. "I was led to the master emerald inside of him, then saw you fighting him, and decided you should do it yourself—I was right."

Maya Eva looked down, trying to hide her smile.

"But, I suggest we get down and back to the ARK. I've already found some shards, I just need to find that batgirl who has the others," Knuckles informed.

Maya Eva gasped, and looked up, remembering the fight between Knuckles and Rouge.

"What?" Knuckles asked. "Something wrong?"

"Oh…no, nothing wrong," the teal echidna hesitated.

Knuckles shrugged. "Whatever." Then, he turned and walked to the edge of the platform, calling, "Hey, Maya Eva. Come over here."

Maya Eva obeyed, and stopped beside the red echidna.

Without warning, Knuckles made a grab for her hand.

"Hey!" she called.

"Just hang on, okay?" Knuckles said.

"What, hang on? Knuckles, I don't know what you're doing! This could be a bad id-EEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAAAAA!" Maya Eva screamed as the red echidna took off, gliding.

"KNUCKLES!" she complained, closing her eyes.

The guardian didn't answer.

"You put me down, right now! I demand to be on the ground, safe and sound!" Maya Eva protested, but Knuckles wasn't listening.

"Just what are you trying to accomplish?" she finally asked.

"I'm trying to get you used to the feeling of gliding," Knuckles answered.

Maya Eva hung quietly. She didn't have anything more to say to that.

"Now, you try," and before Maya Eva got a chance to react, Knuckles had thrown her into the air.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH! KNUCKLES!" Maya Eva screamed, not realizing she had instinctively thrown her arms and legs into the gliding stance.

"Maya Eva, open your eyes. You're gliding!" Knuckles said from right beside her.

"No I'm not; I'm falling," Maya Eva protested, still not opening her eyes.

"Just trust me," Knuckles stated.

With a sigh, Maya Eva slowly opened one eye after another, and gasped. "I AM GLIDING!" she shouted, scared, but also amazed.

"See? You should've trusted me," Knuckles said, but Maya Eva didn't answer. Instead, she was lost in her mind.

It was magical. She was flying—actually flying! She was doing something humans have dreamed of doing! Even though the Wright brothers were able to create an airplane and fly, this was a different story. She was the one piercing the air, the one feeling the breeze ripple beside her, and see nothing but the beautiful scenery…well, okay, it wasn't THAT beautiful from where she was gliding, but it was a view non-the-less.

Knuckles smiled, and grabbed her hand again. "I want to show you something," he said, and Maya Eva allowed herself to be led by him.

"Um, Knuckles? Where are we going?" she asked, noticing they were flying AWAY from the ARK.

"Oh, you'll see," was the reply.

As they went farther and farther away, Maya Eva began to get more and more nervous, until finally, Knuckles said, "Turn around."

What Maya Eva saw when she turned around blew her mind away. She saw earth, beautiful earth in all its majesty, almost 'glowing' from the sun's light.

"Wow…" she breathed. "This is…this is unbelievable."

"Yeah…I just thought you wanted to see it, since this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity," Knuckles said.

"Oh, Knuckles…thank you so much!" Maya Eva was truly grateful.

"You're welcome. I just thought I'd show you something nice since I might never see you again…" Knuckles' voice trailed off.

Maya Eva's eyes opened wide. Home! She'd been all wrapped up in this adventure, she completely forgot about her family! What would they think when they heard she'd been missing for more than one day? They'd be hysterical! What was she going to do? And exactly HOW was she going to get home? And what about Mira? They STILL haven't found they're friend….

"Ohmigosh…." Maya Eva froze.

"What?" Knuckles asked, confused.

"This is….this is Mi—I mean—MJ's birthday…..I totally forgot about that!" Maya Eva admitted.

Knuckles gave a snicker. "Quite a birthday, if you ask me," he said.

The teal echidna didn't answer; she was in deep thought, reviewing the game. Suddenly, she turned around and began gliding back towards the meteor.

"What…where are you going?" he called.

"I'm going back to find Darkness, Tia and Shani. We need to bet back on track—we don't have much time before the eclipse cannon fires!"


	11. Chapter 11

Maya Eva and Knuckles glided back to where the other three were as fast as they could. Shani and Mira could hardly believe that Maya Eva was gliding!

"Whoa….that's way past cool!" Shani couldn't help but jump up and down in excitement. Her best friend now could fly! How cool was that!

"I envy you!" Mira complained, putting her hands on her hips.

Maya Eva smiled, but quickly dismissed it. They had more important things on their hands.

"Guys," she said, "we need to get back to the others. The eclipse cannon is going to fire soon!"

"But, what about…" Mira gave a wave of her hand to say you-know-what.

Maya Eva didn't answer. She knew her friend was right. They had to wait until that was finished first.

Knuckles had something else on his mind. "Hey, where's Darkness?" he asked.

The group looked around themselves, and sure enough, Darkness was not with them.

"Where did she go? It's not like her to just disappear like that! She knows better!" Mira said worriedly.

"But why would she leave? She couldn't have been taken by she?" Shani asked.

Maya Eva shook her head. "There's no one else out here except us and…." Her voice trailed off, and Mira and Shani finished her sentence.

"Rouge!"

………..

Darkness stared hard at the bat in front of her. She'd caught her red-handed.

"Well, what are you going to do? It's not like you can just take my shards away from me," Rouge replied, not liking that someone was in her way.

Darkness held her ground. She didn't know how long she could keep this up; she prayed that the others would get here fast.

"You just going to stand there and not say anything?" Rouge snorted.

Darkness kept quiet. _Oh, hurry up, guys!_ she thought.

Rouge sighed, and put a hand on the wall beside her, leaning on it. Silence lasted for a while, and Darkness didn't know how much time had passed before Rouge finally said, "Well, I guess that settles it. Looks like I'm just going to have to make my way through."

With that, she jumped to give a strong kick to Darkness. Darkness, caught off guard, gaped, then quickly ducked; Rouge's leg whizzed by her head.

"If that's how you want it done, then fine!" Darkness said for the first time she caught up with the government spy. _Then this way, I'll be able to stall Rouge!_ she added, silently.

Rouge gave her infamous smile, and then charged for another attack. What she didn't know was that Darkness had speed on her side. The black hedgehog zoomed out of the way, and before Rouge knew it, had hit her with a homing-attack.

"AH!" Rouge tripped, and quickly got to her knees. "So, you want to play hard, eh? Fine! Hip drop!"

Darkness was stunned momentarily, and that was all it took. Rouge got up and kicked her three times. Darkness fell back, and looked at Rouge for a moment, feeling hurt. She was sure she had at least five bruises just from that, and it hurt—badly. Rouge stood triumphantly.

"Is it too much for the little hedgehog?" she taunted, and that angered Darkness.

Darkness jumped up, trying to ignore her aching bruises, and quickly tripped Rouge with a slick kick.

"AH!" Rouge fell on her back, then quickly rolled, and got to a hunched position, her wings out ready to take off.

Darkness looked at Rouge, and had forgotten about her bruises. The two stared at each other, before Rouge took to the sky, and headed for a familiar building made of four pillars. Darkness, forgetting about how the game went, ran after the bat, and onto the floor. Once in the middle, she stopped and looked for her foe. Suddenly, Rouge came down with a kick that hit Darkness square in the back.

Darkness gritted her teeth to muffle her cry of pain as she fell to the ground. Her spine felt broken, but she was sure it wasn't. The hedgehog got to her knees, and glanced for the boots of the bat. One leg was rising to kick her in the head. In a flash, Darkness grabbed Rouge's leg, and swung her around, letting go to let her fly into a pillar. For a second, she was surprised that she had done that; surprised that she had just thrown someone her size into a wall. Then it struck her. She had made her fancharacter to be a strong one.

Rouge gritted her teeth, and looked angrily at Darkness before charging at her, ready to deliver a punch. Darkness easily stepped to the side, and Rouge didn't give up there. She then punched with the other fist, and Darkness dodged that, too. But then she kicked Darkness with her knee, and that hit her. Darkness stumbled back, but then jogged back and did her own punch, punch, kick.

Rouge and Darkness both swat at each other, clawing and fighting. Darkness kicked Rouge, and then Rouge kicked Darkness. Finally, the two just stared at each other, panting. Before either of them could say a word, a sound suddenly erupted from beneath them, and Darkness opened her eyes wide, and without warning, ran to the nearest pillar, and began to climb—even though she wasn't very good at it.

Rouge, confused, looked down at the floor below her, as suddenly, it began to open up, revealing hot lava under it. She suddenly shot up and landed on the first row of steel walkways. Darkness had made it to the same one, and they stared at each other, before charging and continuing their fight. Finally, their fight made them move around, and Rouge got the advantage. She was currently forcing Darkness to step back with each foot as she stepped forward with each foot. Darkness, not wanting to be trapped, was forced to walk into a middle walkway, and did so.

The fight continued, and finally was able to stay in one spot as Darkness tried not to be moved a single more step. Rouge was getting tired of this game, and was suddenly reminded of what she had to do. This was wasting her time! She didn't have time to be fighting an amateur! She had work to do!

The bat stopped, and stepped back, panting, and Darkness did the same, confused.

"What's the matter? Had enough?' Darkness asked.

Rouge shook her head.

"You scared? Scared of tasting defeat?" the hedgehog pushed, hoping it would stall Rouge for just a tiny bit longer.

"You know you can't beat me, so might as well give up, eh? Wise idea…." Darkness hoped Rouge didn't see her nervous glance around her.

Rouge tried to ignore the girl's remarks, but it was hard.

"Guess you can't call yourself a treasure hunter? Being defeated by a silly amateur, am I right?"

Rouge froze. Of course she was a treasure hunter!

"Poor Rouge….now when you talk to the other treasure hunters, they'll all laugh at you, being the most ridiculous one they've ever seen…."

Rouge clenched her fists. Those other comments didn't matter….but saying Rouge wasn't a treasure hunter? Now that was going too far!

"Guess you'll just have to keep trying….or keep dreaming."

Now THAT was too far!

With a cry of rage, Rouge slashed at Darkness, catching her off guard. Darkness fell back and landed on her bum. With a blank expression on her face, she looked at Rouge, who had her eyes open wide. What was she staring at? Her cheek? Darkness reached up a hand to touch her cheek, and felt something wet. Scared, she brought it up to her face. Blood.

She looked at Rouge. That was the first drop of blood that was ever shed through the entire fight….but what plagued Darkness even more was the question: how big was the cut?

Rouge still had her eyes wide, staring at the mark she made on her opponent's cheek. Oh, it was a big all right. It went from the top of her cheek bone to her jaw. She didn't know how deep it was, but she could guess it was pretty deep.

"I….I'm…." Rouge couldn't finish her sentence. It wasn't like her to say sorry, but….she just made a scar that would probably last on the girl's cheek forever.

Darkness didn't stand up, but looked at Rouge, and was suddenly reminded of all the pain she had. She probably had bruises over every inch of her body, but that didn't compare to the numbness her cheek was feeling.

Rouge shook her head, and suddenly, both of them heard the cries of four familiar friends….

"DARKNESS!" Maya Eva called, and dropped from gliding behind her friend (the walkway wasn't wide enough to have two people side-by-side on it), and even let Shani get on the walkway, too (Knuckles and Maya Eva both took a girl with them when they glided so then they could travel together). Knuckles landed in front of Darkness after dropping Mira off with Shani and Maya Eva.

Knuckles brought his fists up to fight, but Rouge shook her head.

"I've already had enough of that," the bat said.

"Fine….then give me back the emeralds!" Knuckles replied.

Rouge shook her head, placing her hands on her hips. "No-can-do. These jewels are MINE. I found them! So you better back off!" To prove her point, the bat took a threatening step forward—and then it happened.

Rouge lost her footing on the walkway, and suddenly found herself plummeting toward her death. 

"AAAAAAH!" she screamed, and closed her eyes, almost accepting her fate.

She didn't know how much time had passed, but suddenly, she found that she wasn't dropping. Something was holding her; something had saved her. She opened her eyes and looked up, and gasped when she saw who had saved her. Knuckles. The echidna pulled her up, and for a moment, their eyes locked, until Rouge pulled away.

"Get your slimy hands off me!" she exclaimed.

"Is that how you thank someone who just saved your life?" Knuckles retorted.

"Saving my life? Don't think I owe you one. You just wanted to hold my hand, didn't you? That's why you saved me! You're such a creep!"

"Say whatever you want, batgirl! I was saving the Master Emerald!"

Rouge sighed, feeling disappointed in a way. "Whatever you say, it sounds crazy!" To Knuckles surprise, Rouge threw the remaining shards in front of him.

"Wha--?" the echidna was too stunned to speak.

"Fine, then just take them. They stink like echidnas do," Rouge said, crossing her arms over her chest.

"If that's what you thought, you should've given them to me earlier!"

Suddenly, before everyone's eyes, the Master Emerald became one again.

"Finally!" Knuckles breathed, and looked at Rouge.

The bat looked away, avoiding his gaze. "What?" she demanded.

The echidna sighed. "I'm sorry….if I hurt you."

Rouge stared at the echidna, stunned. Then looked away again.

"I should get going…." with that, the bat took off running, never looking back.

Mira could swear she saw Rouge blushing as she ran. She smiled. That was only the beginning of her crush on Knuckles, and she knew it. Her thoughts were interrupted as she heard Maya Eva gasp.

"Darkness….what happened?" the echidna pointed to the cut on her friend's cheek, that was bleeding badly.

The others turned and saw what she was pointing at.

"Whoa….what caused that?" Knuckles asked.

Darkness looked down, and then said, "Rouge."

Maya Eva, Shani and Mira exchanged glances.

"You fought Rouge?" Mira asked.

Darkness nodded.

"COOL!" Shani exclaimed.

"No, not cool!" Maya Eva informed.

"Is too!"

"Is not!"

"Is too!"

"Is not!"

"JUST BE QUIET!" Knuckles shouted, and Maya Eva and Shani shut their mouths.

"Thank you…" Darkness whispered, and Knuckles took the time to examine the injury. "Well…." he finally said, "I hate to say it, but that scar looks like it's going to stay with you."

Darkness closed her eyes. "I was afraid of that…" she muttered.

"Hey, but that's okay! At least you'll have a reminder of what happened here!" Shani said, always trying to be the optimist.

"She's got a point," Maya Eva agreed, and Darkness finally nodded.

"I guess if you look at it that way, it is pretty cool…" she reasoned.

"You bet it is!" Shani said, and smiled.

Darkness smiled, too.

"Hey, guys? I think we're forgetting something…" Mira said, tapping her foot.

"Oh, yeah! The eclipse cannon! We have to hurry!" Maya Eva said, and jumped up to glide. She, Mira, Darkness and Shani knew that it wasn't the eclipse cannon they were so worried about. It was being in a certain place at a certain time to help a certain friend.

And as they ran off, hurrying back towards the ARK, with the Master Emerald and all, they knew that that certain time was going to happen soon.

……………

MJ walked down the hallway with her hands behind her back. She remembered the journal entries of Maria, and considered herself fortunate. That book was never mentioned in the game, and yet, it existed….well, probably because Professor Gerald's was more important. But it was fascinating. To see how Shadow was raised was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. She couldn't wait to tell her friends!

MJ stopped dead in her tracks. Her friends! She'd been caught up so much in what was happening, she completely forgot about them! Did they know she was with the Dark Team? Did they know that she was okay and made it?

A sound broke her thoughts, and MJ turned around to see Shadow standing there.

"What are you doing in the middle of the hallway?" he asked.

MJ blushed and looked away. "I'm…exploring."

It was obvious Shadow didn't take it as an answer, and he walked around her and stopped when he was directly in front of her. To avoid contact, the seal looked down, her cheeks still blushing.

"You shouldn't be getting your nose into what you don't need to know," Shadow said sternly.

"I wasn't really exploring…I was more like taking a walk, that's all…." MJ answered.

Shadow lifted MJ's chin up so then he could see if she was lying or not. MJ stared at Shadow, not knowing what to do except blush.

"Why are your cheeks red?" the ebony hedgehog finally asked, letting go of MJ's chin.

"I….um…." MJ blushed harder.

"You're hiding something…." he finally concluded.

The red in MJ's cheeks disappeared. "What do you mean?" she asked.

"You've been hiding something ever since I first met you. You know something about this all, don't you?" the hedgehog demanded.

"I….I…well, yeah….I know SOMETHING, but it may not be a lot…."

"No, it's a lot. You know what we're up to, don't you? You know everything, don't you?"

"Yes…."

"Why? Why do you know all this?"

"I don't know!"

"Yes you do know! You know it, and I want to know why!"

"But Shadow….if I told you, then you'd—"

"I'd what! You probably already know that, too, don't you?"

"No I don't!"

"Then how come you know so much!"

"Because I'm not from here!"

That silenced their argument. Shadow looked at MJ, confused.

"What?" he asked.

"I said I'm not from here! There! You happy? 'Cause I'm not!" Tears dwelled up in MJ's eyes. "I'm a long way from home! Heck, I don't even know where I am! All in know is that I am living the adventure of some video game that I can't even beat! I don't look like this at all! I don't know what happened to my friends! All I remember is being struck by lightening! And you know what? It all happened on MY BIRTHDAY. On MY BIRTHDAY I was sent far from home! On MY BIRTHDAY, my friends are lost! On MY BIRTHDAY we could have died! It was on MY BIRTHDAY." MJ shook her head, tears falling down her cheeks. "Some birthday…"

Shadow stared at MJ. Finally, he reached out and hugged her. MJ didn't feel her cheeks get red as usual. Instead, she found that all she could do was cry on his shoulder as he hugged her.

Rouge the bat walked up the hallway, then quickly hid in the shadows. Ever so slyly, she peeked to see Shadow hugging a weeping MJ. She smiled. Good. It was wonderful that he was hugging her. Naturally, Rouge would've wanted Shadow to kiss MJ, but…..that would have to wait. For now, this was good enough.

"MJ!" Eggman's voice boomed through the speakers.

Shadow loosened his hold on MJ, and MJ stopped crying, and looked up. What did that Egghead want now?

"MJ! Come here to the deck right this instant!" was the command.

MJ looked at the floor before looking at Shadow. Shadow fully let go of MJ and said, "You'd better get going."

MJ nodded, and then began walking up the hallway.

"Oh, and MJ?" Shadow called.

The seal looked back, her cheeks stained with tears.

"I'm sorry….about the fight."

MJ smiled weakly. "I forgive you…." she said, and then continued her journey to where Eggman wanted her.

Rouge hid back in the shadows as Shadow walked passed her. After the coast was clear, the bat stepped out of her hiding place.

"Hmmm….." the bat paced the floor, pondering. "There has got to be a way that I can get them together! They need each other—and I just saw it! From different planets or not, MJ and Shadow are going to fall in love! And I'm going to make it happen!" Rouge stopped pacing as the question came to her mind: "But how?" In a snap of your fingers, an idea came into the bat's mind. She smiled. "Perfect!"

………

Sonic jumped from the metal cliff, and Jet followed suit. Just then, more robots jumped down and landed in front of them.

"Man….how many of these does he have?" Sonic asked, and then gave a homing-attack to one while Jet did the other.

"I don't know!" the brown animal replied. "But all I know is that he sure has a boat-load of them!"

More robots jumped in front of them.

"Make that titanic-load!" Sonic replied as he did a somersault into them.

Finally, they were able to break through the wall of robots, and continue their journey. Every once in a while, Eggman would come back on, saying, "Sonic! If you don't come here right now, they will die!"

"We know that by now!" Jet chimed as he did it once more.

Suddenly, they came to a locked door.

"Darn!" Sonic said, and put his hands on his hips while he tapped his foot irritated.

Jet, on the other hand, having full knowledge of the game, broke wooden crates nearby, searching for a certain white balloon with a star on it. 

"Jet, what are you—"

Sonic's question was answered as finally, the door opened. Jet had found the balloon.

"Doing? My job," Jet winked, and the two continued.

Robots were waiting for them. With ease, they destroyed them and went on.

When they turned a corner, new enemies were there. Two of them, to be exact. They were much like the one that Maya Eva encountered when searching for the Master Emerald shard.

"What are those things!" Sonic winkled up his nose in disgust.

"Just newbies. Aim for their head," was the reply, and Sonic did so.

They blew away, and Sonic and Jet continued.

Suddenly, they came to a weird room with a switch that showed an arrow pointing up.

"I'm almost afraid to ask….but what does this lever do?" Sonic inquired.

Just then, robots jumped behind them.

"Push it! Push it!" Jet cried.

"Okay!"

Suddenly, everything spun as gravity changed course.

"WHOA!" Sonic gasped as he found himself standing on the ceiling.

"Cool, isn't it?" Jet asked.

The blue hedgehog smiled. "You bet it is!"

The robots suddenly began firing at them.

"Yikes! Let's get a move on!" Sonic cried, and they moved on.

"This is weird…." the blue hedgehog informed, trying to get used to all the blood rushing to his head.

"We better get down soon. Unless we want to become unconscious," Jet replied.

"Let's get down!"

They found the nearest lever and pulled it, and everything went back to normal….

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAH!" They screamed, falling head-first.

Sonic, used to this, quickly turned around. He then grabbed Jet, and they landed upright.

"Whew….that was close. Thanks," Jet said.

Sonic winked. "You're welcome."

They then ran forward, and came upon a room that Jet found familiar.

"Sonic! Follow me!"

Sonic turned and saw that the brown animal was running a different way then they wanted to.

"Wha--? Where we going?" Sonic caught up with Jet.

"You'll see," was the reply.

Finally, they reached a wall. "Jump up there and tell me what you find," she instructed.

The blue hedgehog shrugged, and did as told. His green eyes surveyed the area. They fell upon a weird-shaped ring.

"Find anything?" Jet asked.

"Yeah…there's this weird ring up here!"

"Take it!"

With a shrug of his shoulders, the hedgehog took it. Since it was a ring, he slipped it on his finger.

"Cool….now what does it do?" Sonic asked.

"It allows you to create a ball of flame around yourself when you somersault. Try it!"

Sonic did as told, and busted through a gray metal crate with ease.

"Whoa! Awesome!" he smiled.

"Yeah, isn't it? Now come on! We need to hurry!"

Sonic jumped down and joined Jet and the two ran up to another lever and pushed it. Once on the ceiling, Sonic followed as Jet led him to a row of grey metal crates.

"You need to bust throw those in order to continue," the animal informed.

Sonic nodded, and somersaulted, not only breaking through the crates, but also getting to the other side. Jet followed.

"All right. Now let's continue," Sonic said, and they made their way throughout the whole course, with Jet's knowledge.

Suddenly, they ran into a wall of robots.

"Uh-oh! Switch sides!" Sonic called, and they turned around, but there wasn't much help there, either. There was lava both below and over them.

"Aw, nuts!" Jet complained.

Sonic looked up. "Jet…."

"What?" the brown animal asked, looking behind them in growing fear,

"Do you trust me?'

"Wha—AAAAAAAAAAH!" Suddenly, Sonic grabbed her around the waist with one hand, and jumped up, using the other to grab onto a metal pole. Together, they slide down the pole with increasing speed.

When in the next room, gravity had changed and they were on the ceiling once more.

"Well?" Sonic asked.

"That…..was fun!" Jet smiled. "But….don't ever grab me like that again, okay?"

Sonic laughed. "Okay."

The two looked behind them and saw three switches. One pointing the right. One to the left. And one that led straight down.

"Let's use the middle one! We'll get down—"

"No!" Jet interrupted. "Use the one pointing right."

"What?"

"Just trust me."

"Okay."

Sonic pulled the right one, and gravity changed course again.

"All right, now where?" he asked.

"Now, you follow me!" Jet commanded, and they ran downwards.

"This is weird….." Sonic repeated, running straight down. It reminded him of when he was running on buildings.

"All right….Sonic, get ready to grind!" Jet exclaimed.

"YES!" the blue hedgehog cheered.

The two jumped on a metal rail, and grinded downwards. The metal pole then changed course and went parallel to the ground. When they jumped off, they landed on an island-like metal platform, and there on it were a thousand little balls, and one giant one above them.

"Uh…..Jet?" Sonic called.

"Just hit the big one. The smaller ones will go away once you defeat their leader."

Sonic nodded, then ball-bounced towards the big one, and finally was able to destroy it. Sure enough, like Jet said, the smaller ones burst away, too. The door behind them opened, and Sonic and Jet ran through. They continued the course, and finally came upon what Jet remembered as the most difficult part in the whole level.

Once they had ran through the door, they stopped short. There before them floated many different colored blocks with rails and other things on them.

"Darn," Sonic said.

Just then, they heard Eggman laugh and say, "All right, Sonic. You two will never get out of this room alive!"

"That's where you're wrong Eggman!" Jet exclaimed, and looked forward, refreshing her memory. The levers were the key. If they pulled the wrong one, then it would be the end for them.

"Sonic, stay close to me, okay?" Jet asked, walking towards the single lever in front of them.

"Why?" Sonic asked, walking besides the brown animal.

"Because if you don't, then you could get lost!"

With that, Jet pushed the lever, and everything spun around once again. Now upside-down, Jet led Sonic around a corner and past an enemy.

"Um…don't we want to get rid of him?" Sonic asked, pointing to the blue liquid creature.

"It's best to ignore them and move on. We don't have time to deal with all of Eggman's robots," was the reply.

Jet then pulled a lever that pointed left.

"How do you know we're going the right way?" Sonic asked, closely following the brown animal as she ran around a corner then straight downwards.

"This is one of my favorite levels in the game. I play it a lot to improve my skills in it," Jet explained as they stopped in front of some metal crates.

"Um….I can't destroy those…even with the flame ring," Sonic said.

"I know. We're going to jump over them and to the other side."

"We're what?"

Jet jumped on top of the black boxes, then ball-bounced over to the next side. Sonic followed.

"Wow….you playing this level sure pays off!" the blue hedgehog admitted, following Jet as she ran downwards.

"Thanks…" Jet froze.

Sonic ran ahead, then stopped and ran back.

"What's with the stop?" he asked.

"I just said….thanks…." the brown animal replied.

"Yeah. So?"

Jet looked at Sonic. "I'm not one to usually say thank you…I usually try to keep myself one that people can fear and look up to….but now…."

"You've become more of someone that people can call a 'friend' rather than a 'leader'," Sonic finished.

Jet nodded. "I haven't noticed when I've been saying thank you a lot….and when I just said thank you, it struck me….I've changed. I'm not longer a person that someone wants to have as a leader. I'm what someone wants as a friend."

"And that's the best type of person to be!" Sonic smiled.

Jet smiled back. Suddenly, Eggman's voice came back on. "Sonic! Jet! If you don't come here right now, they will die!"

"We'd better get going," Sonic said.

Jet nodded, and continued downward. They ran into another lever, then pushed it, and fell upon a blue block. They rounded a corner, and found themselves at a dead end.

"Aw, nuts!" Sonic exclaimed.

"Sonic….now it's my turn to ask: do you trust me?" Jet asked, looking at a floating robot that didn't see them.

"I guess…." The blue hedgehog hesitated.

Jet didn't look at him. She was thinking. If only she hit the robot and moved on, then Sonic couldn't follow. They only had one robot to get them up there.

"Uh….Jet? What are you—"

"Grab me," Jet interrupted.

"What?"

"Grab me like you did before."

"Jet…I thought you said I wasn't supposed to!"

"I know….but it's the only way."

Sonic sighed. "All right." He wrapped his arm around her waist again.

"Okay, now, when I say 'three', then we both need to do a homing-attack and hit that robot and land on the next block. Sound good?" Jet asked.

Sonic looked at the robot, then the next block.

"Okay…" he said uneasily.

"One….two….THREE!"

At that moment, both of them curled up, and did a homing-attack at the robot, and bounced to the next block. Once there, Sonic let go and looked at Jet.

"So….why did you have me hold you like that again?" he asked.

"Because we had to stay together or else only one of us would make it. If we held each other's hands, then it was a weak hold. The only strong hold was the hold we had when you slid down that pole," Jet explained.

Sonic gave an 'o' expression, and then they continued. They ran forward and came upon another lever. Pushing it, they let their blood relax as they came to a normal position. But they had to keep running. They came upon yet another lever and went upside down.

"We're almost there!" Jet cried.

"YAHOO!" Sonic cheered.

The two rounded a corner, and ran into an enemy. Sonic had a hard time not fighting it, but he reminded himself of Jet's words. Luckily, there was some black boxes to give them refuge while they pulled another lever that set them to normal position once again.

"Do you want to have the honor?" Jet asked, pointing her hand at the direction of the red button.

Sonic bowed. "I would be delighted to," he said, mimicking an eighteenth century man's voice. Jet laughed. The blue hedgehog then stepped on the button, releasing a rocket. The rocket shot forward and destroyed a gate; behind it was an elevator that would lead them to where Eggman had Amy and Krystal.

"Hurry!" Jet yelled, and the two zoomed inside the elevator, and pushed the button for it to go to the deck.

During that time, they rested, and regained their composure. Jet leaned back against the elevator wall. A sudden thought came to her mind.

"Sonic…do you still have the chaos emerald?" she asked.

"You mean the fake one?" Sonic showed it to her. "Yep. Right here."

Jet nodded, and tried to relax. Something wasn't right though. Something was missing. There was something wrong about Sonic having the chaos emerald. There was something that was supposed to be there but wasn't. And yet, Jet couldn't put her finger on what it was.

She didn't have time to think about it though. They had arrived at the deck. "Ready?" Sonic asked.

Jet smiled. "Ready as I'll ever be."

………

Tails and Lee stared at Eggman. He had a gun pointed at Amy's head, and another gun pointed at Krystal's.

It was like they were having a stare-down contest. Eggman stared at Tails and Lee, and Tails and Lee stared at Eggman.

A sound came from behind Tails and Lee, and they turned to see the door open, and there stood Jet and Sonic.

"Ah….there you are, Sonic…" Eggman cast a glance at the animal beside the blue hedgehog, "…and Jet."

Jet looked at Amy. The pink hedgehog looked like she was more worried about Sonic than herself. The brown animal then looked at Krystal. She narrowed her eyes. What was Krystal doing? Then it struck her. The white hedgehog was doing sign-language.

Jet tuned out the conversation between Sonic and Eggman. She was paying attention to what Krystal was trying to say. S-O-N-I-C, she spelled, D-O-E-S-N-O-T-K-N-O-W-H-O-W-T-O-U-S-E-C-H-A-O-S-C-O-N-T-R-O-L.

Jet's heart skipped a beat. Her friend was right. Sonic didn't know how to use chaos control. She slapped her forehead with her hand. Because they were here, they've been separating Shadow from Sonic. Sonic never saw Shadow use chaos control! It was them who was fighting the robot! Sonic never fought Shadow in the forest! Krystal did! That's what was missing. That's what was causing Jet to feel uneasy in the elevator! Sonic didn't know how to use chaos control! This time, Eggman was going to send the hero to his death.

_Not unless I can help it, _Jet thought. She glanced around for Sonic. The blue hedgehog was stepping towards the middle! Without thinking, Jet burst forward just as the white tube came down. Figuring she wouldn't make it, Jet jumped to her side, and slid. She had barely made it inside.

"What the--!" Sonic exclaimed. He hadn't noticed that Jet was in there, too.

Eggman laughed. "You thought you could trick me with that fake emerald, didn't you?"

"So, how did you know it wasn't the real one?" Tails asked.

"TAILS!" Jet and Sonic cried. Sonic blinked a few times. Was that him? No, there was someone else who said it, too. He looked behind him; there stood Jet. "Jet! What're you doing here?"

"You'll see…." Jet said. It was obvious she was scared and tense.

"Because you just told me, fox-boy!" Eggman replied.

Tails' eyes opened wide as he realized his mistake. He looked at Sonic and Jet in the tube, and immediately felt guilty. It was his fault they were going to die.

Lee could only stare into the tube. Was this how awful it felt in the game when this happened? When he played it, he just shrugged the moment off and kept playing. But not this time. This time, it was reality. This time, one of his friends was about to die, and never be seen again.

Krystal and Jet's eyes met. It was obvious both were scared, but they each shared a courage and faith in one another. Y-O-U-C-A-N-D-O-I-T, she signed. Jet nodded.

"…and Amy, take care of yourself," Jet heard Sonic say.

Jet looked at Lee and Krystal, and said, "I want you two to be ready. Remember, it's not over yet."

Just then, the door opened again. This time, MJ came out of it. Time seemed to stop as Krystal, Jet, Lee and MJ all saw each other.

"MIKA!" Krystal cried.

MJ gasped. "Raquel?"

"Krystal, it's MJ," Lee corrected, trying to get MJ to see him. That worked.

"KT!" she exclaimed.

"It's Lee!" he informed.

MJ smiled. Her eyes then searched the room, and fell upon the tube. The smile faded. Her heart sunk.

"Destiny…." she whispered.

Eggman smiled. "You know them, MJ?"

MJ could only nod; her eyes never left her friend's face.

"Then come here, or else I'll shoot your friend," Eggman pointed his gun at Krystal's head.

MJ did as told and walked across the room. Just then, the door opened again, and out came Shani and Maya Eva.

"SHANI! Sto—" Maya Eva stopped and looked around. Everyone was staring at them.

"Heh heh….sorry to interrupt, guys. But, I just wanted to—" Shani froze as she saw Jet in the tube.

"Jet!" she exclaimed.

Maya Eva saw someone else. "MJ!" she shouted, not believing her eyes.

_FINALLY someone calls her by her fancharacter's name! _Lee thought.

"Rachel? Brigitte?" MJ said quietly.

"Maya Eva and Shani," Maya Eva corrected, winking. Shani tugged at her arm, and pointed at the tube, not able to speak.

"What?" the teal echidna finally asked, and saw what her friend was pointing at.

She gasped. "Jet!"

Eggman smiled again. "Now….where were we? Ah, yes. MJ, come here, or else you-know-what."

The seal continued until she was right beside the mad scientist. "Now, MJ, I'm going to ask a special favor of you…."

MJ looked at him. A small compartment from his machine went in front of her, and showed a button.

"…I want you to send your friend and that Sonic to their deaths!"


	12. Chapter 12

"…come again?" Shani asked, blinking a few times.

MJ could not believe what she just heard. Eggman wanted _her _to push the button? No! She wouldn't have it!

The seal shook her head, and took a step back.

"No? Are you sure?" Eggman clicked the gun, and aimed it at Krystal.

MJ gasped. Krystal seemed to flinch at the sight of her possible fate, but remained calm.

"Push the button, MJ, or else Krystal will die," Eggman threatened.

The seal could feel her heart beat faster. It was either Krystal or Sonic and Jet. She looked at the button.

"I don't have all day…" Eggman informed.

Nobody else could say anything. The friends from earth knew how the story went, and were praying that MJ would push the button. It was how the story went. Sonic had to escape and have a showdown with Shadow. But….why was Jet in the tube, then?

Something clicked inside of Maya Eva's mind. She gasped.

"What is it?" Shani whispered.

"I just realized something…Sonic doesn't know how to use chaos control…and what's even worse, Jet's in there, too. Without chaos control, they can't escape!" Maya Eva whispered back.

Shani thought a moment, and then her eyes widened in realization. "No…" she whispered. "We…we can't let that happen!"

The teal echidna looked at her friend, on the verge of tears. "If we don't, then Krystal will die. Shani, someone is going to die either way! There is nothing we can do!" she said, not caring if anybody else heard her.

A wave of being hurt swept over Shani, but quickly passed and changed into one of sorrow. Maya Eva was right. There was nothing they could do to stop someone from dying. Nothing. Without thinking, the light blue hedgehog buried her face in her friend's chest, crying. Maya Eva, caught off guard, stumbled back, but quickly regained her composure, and hugged her friend, comforting her. But she couldn't stop the tears that were silently falling down her own face.

Lee had caught what Maya Eva said, and thought a moment. How could Sonic and Jet die? The only way was if they—the fox caught himself. That was what was missing. Sonic didn't know how to use chaos control. But….a slight feeling of hope entered Lee's mind. What if Jet could use chaos control? It's possible… Lee looked at the tube, and saw Jet looking at Krystal. More hope came unto him. Jet knew what she had to do, and so did Krystal. Jet could do it; she had to. She was their last hope.

Tails was at a loss for words. How could he have not seen what was coming? How could he have been so stupid as to make Eggman's assumptions correct? How could he? Amy was crying in sorrow. Sonic was going to die…it had always seemed impossible for the blue blur to do so, but now…

Krystal and Jet talked to each other in sign-language, discussing what was to be done. After Jet and Sonic would be launched away, there had to be the fight between Tails and Eggman. During that time, Rouge would learn the truth about Shadow. By then, Sonic and Jet would have escaped and would be making their way to the core in order to finish what they started. And then…they didn't go that far. All they knew was that they had to finish the first part of the story before the real nerve-breaking part began.

Y-O-U-C-A-N-D-O-I-T, Krystal signed to her friend, J-U-S-T-C-O-N-C-E-N-T-R-A-T-E-A-N-D-Y-O-U-W-I-L-L-D-O-F-I-N-E.

B-U-T-W-H-A-T-I-F-I-M-E-S-S-U-P-A-N-D-S-E-N-D-U-S-S-O-M-E-W-H-E-R-E-E-L-S-E, Jet signed back.

M-Y-P-I-A-N-O-T-E-A-C-H-E-R-A-L-W-A-Y-S-T-O-L-D-M-E-T-H-A-T-I-F-Y-O-U-D-O-N-O-T-T-H-I-N-K-A-B-O-U-T-M-A-K-I-N-G-A-M-I-S-T-A-K-E-Y-O-U-W-I-L-L-N-O-T.

Jet took a deep breath, taking in her friend's encouragement. Krystal smiled proudly, her trust starting to grow.

MJ didn't know what to do. Either way someone was going to die…she had just realized that from hearing what Maya Eva said. But there was the thought that Jet might save them…but could she? Did she even know how to use the chaos emerald? Not to mention a FAKE one? Yes she could, trust her, MJ! She can do it! Why, wasn't she one of the two at your birthday party who was playing Sonic Adventure 2: Battle? She could do it! MJ's eyes looked up to see Jet looking at Krystal. The seal followed her friend's gaze. Why was she…? The seal got her answer as she saw the two doing a familiar silent way of talking. Sign-language. But…what were they saying? MJ didn't know sign-launguage. All she knew were some basic letters such as c, o, and l. What help it was to know those letters.

"I don't have all day, MJ!" Eggman reminded, and that brought everyone's attention to the birthday girl.

MJ looked at the tube, then at Krystal, then back at the button.

"Decide, MJ! Which one will it be?" Eggman inquired, watching the seal intently.

MJ wanted to push the button, but she couldn't bring herself to do it. Did she really want to attempt to murder her friend? No, she didn't want to be a murderer! But…

"You've got ten seconds or else I'll shoot. Ten…" the scientist began.

MJ could feel her heart pick up it's pace. _Push the button! _one side of her screamed. _No! Don't! Do you really want to be a murderer? _the other questioned.

"Nine…"

Couldn't Eggman give her more time?

"Eight…"

_No time to think about that, MJ! Make your decision! _her mind yelled.

"Seven…"

Krystal or Jet and Sonic…..Krystal or Jet and Sonic…

"Six…."

Jet and Sonic for goodness sake!

"Five…"

_Push the button already!_

"Four…"

MJ tried to bring her arm up, but it was like an invisible and much stronger hand was trying to push it back.

"Three…"

_PUSH THE BUTTON!_

"Two…"

Her hand was shaking as it hovered right above the button. _Go ahead and get it over with, MJ. Push it and be a murderer. Betray your friends._ No, she couldn't—

"One…"

Too late. Eggman pulled the trigger. The sound pierced the tense air like a sharp knife.

"NO!" Shani screamed. "KRYSTAL!"

MJ's heart skipped a beat as her ears were ringing from the loud noise the gun had made. No….

"Fine. If you won't do it, then I will!" Eggman exclaimed, not caring about what he had done. His pudgy finger fell upon a similar button on his control panel.

Before all of their eyes, the tube shot away.

"SONIC!" Amy screamed, her jade eyes looking out of the window in worry.

Maya Eva was crying hysterically, and fell to her knees, covering her face. No….that wasn't supposed to happen…Krystal wasn't supposed to die! NEITHER was supposed to die! Now all three were gone!

Lee looked out the window, his eyes searching for a bright light to show that Jet and Sonic would escape. The only light that showed was from the explosion of the tube. Lee's heart fell. No…they didn't….they….

MJ felt a great weight on her shoulders. Guilt. What had she done? She had just made the biggest mistake in her entire life, and it cost her two of her best friends' lives. _Well done, MJ. Well done, _her mind thought. Tears flowed down her face as she fell to the ground in guilt. It was her fault. All hers. Every bit of it was hers, and she couldn't stand it. She ran. Ran out of the room, and into the hall. She didn't know where she was going, nor did she care. She just wanted to get as far away as she could from that room.

Shani stood, crying. She was crying so hard, she didn't know that it was her who was still screaming. Finally, her voice began hoarse, and she couldn't scream anymore. Her eyes never left the lying figure of her once-alive friend. Wait a minute…Shani stopped crying. If Krystal was shot….wasn't there supposed to be blood? The light blue hedgehog ran over to her friend, and knelt down, examining her. No blood. Shani watched her friend's chest. It wasn't rising up and down like it would when someone was breathing…wait a minute. Didn't Krystal win numerous times the how-long-can-you-hold-your-breath contest? She was good at a lot of things, and holding her breath was one of them. If there wasn't any blood, and she was supposedly holding her breath….the light blue hedgehog tried to conceal her excitement and closed her mouth, trying not to squeal with delight, but she couldn't stop her arms from flailing up and down. Krystal wasn't dead! Krystal wasn't dead!

Lee saw Shani's flailing arms. What was she so excited about? Two friends just died! Didn't she understand that? The two-tailed fox jumped out of the TORNADO and walked over to the light blue hedgehog. As he walked over, his pace began to slow down. There wasn't any blood…

Eggman turned to Tails. "Now, Tails, be a good fox and give me the real chaos emerald!" he said.

"Sonic…" Tails murmured.

"Huh?"

"For the first time, Sonic asked me to do something for him," Tails explained as an inner flame began to burn. "I won't let him down! I won't give up!"

"We'll see about that!" Eggman retorted, and fired at the fox. The TORNADO jumped out of the way, and everyone flinched at the high-pitched sound the laser made.

Shani looked behind her, and saw her friend, Maya Eva caught in the fight. She was desperately trying to avoid the laser attacks. "EVA!" Shani screamed, and turned into light as she dashed towards her friend to rescue her, just as Lee had arrived where the supposedly-dead Krystal lay.

Lee examined Krystal. No blood….but there was a pulse…but it didn't look like she was breathing…he felt like he could scratch his head in confusion.

Amy hustled over to where Krystal lay, her cheeks stained with tears. Apparently, it didn't appear to be odd to her that there was no blood. She just hugged the seemingly life-less body like it was the last thing that mattered to her.

Shani and Maya Eva joined the group, and they all quickly covered their heads as a laser struck the spot above them.

"Oh, Shani…" it was Maya Eva's turn to burry her face in her friend's chest and cry.

"Eva, it's okay! Krystal's alive!" Shani exclaimed, a big smile on her face.

Maya Eva stopped crying, and leaned back. "What!" she inquired, and they all ducked another laser.

"I said, Krystal's alive!" Shani repeated.

"But how?" Maya Eva asked.

"Remember when she won the who-can-hold-their-breath-the-longest contest?" she asked.

"That would explain THAT part…" Lee mumbled.

"You mean…she's alive?" Amy asked, loosening her hold.

"Yep," Shani informed, and they ducked once more.

"But…why isn't she awake right now?" Maya Eva asked.

"Eggman's here. She probably wants him to believe she's dead," Lee informed.

"But why? What good will that do?" it was Shani's turn to start asking questions.

"If Eggman knew she were alive, then it would ruin the story, because he would probably have a different strategy then. But this way…it remains the same," Lee explained.

"Krystal, can you at least take a breath so then we know you're truly alive?" Amy asked.

The white hedgehog took in a breath, and let out some so then it looked like she hadn't taken any at all.

"KRYS—"

"SHHHHHHH!" the others shushed Maya Eva's remark. But she could catch a tint of excitement in their voices as well.

"But…how could Krystal have survived the shot?" Amy asked.

"Remember? Eggman wasn't looking at Krystal when he fired. He was watching MJ!" Maya Eva said, her face enlightened with joy.

"Wow…she's a good actor," Amy complimented.

"Yeah, but now it's our turn to start acting. We gotta pretend like she is still dead," Lee informed.

The others nodded, and Shani buried her face in Maya Eva's chest once more, and the two embraced each other. Amy hugged Krystal close, and Lee forced himself to get tears to fall down silently. So far, so good. The act was going well. Now if only Jet and Sonic were alive…

……..

MJ's pace slowed to a walk. She had been running for who knows how long, and she didn't care. She was a murderer now; a complete traitor. She raised a hand to wipe some tears away. The seal then took in a shaky breath to calm her nerves, trying to convince herself that Jet and Sonic were alive. That didn't help. Tears came flowing once more. It was impossible. They couldn't be alive. She killed them…okay, maybe she didn't directly murder them, but it was her fault they were dead and that they hadn't escaped. But that didn't change the fact that she still had let Krystal be murdered.

MJ kept walking as these thoughts ran through her head. The more they talked of how she betrayed them, the more her heart ached. She raised her eyes to look in front of her, just as a black blur whizzed by her.

MJ froze. Was that…Shadow? Why was he in such a—the seal caught herself as a flashback of the game came to her mind. Her eyes widened in realization. Shadow was trying to stop whoever was getting to the Eclipse Canon. The only people that could be was…. MJ could feel a smile start to spread on her lips. Jet did it.

………..

"Are you sure this is the way? I thought we'd be there by now," Sonic commented, surveying the tunnel they were in.

"Just be patient, okay?" Jet asked. She looked around. Shadow was supposed to be here by—

"You people never cease to surprise me. I thought that capsule you were in exploded in space," said a voice behind the two.

Jet and Sonic turned around to see none other than Shadow.

Jet smirked. "You know, what can I say? We die hard," she stated as they began walking.

"So…there is more to you than just having the same abilities as me. What are you anyway?" Shadow questioned as they broke into a jog.

"What you see is what you get. Just some kids who love adventure! I'm Sonic, Sonic the Hedgehog!" Sonic announced.

Shadow took a glance towards Jet as she said, "And I'm Jet!"

"I see…but you know, I can't let you live. Your adventuring days are coming to an end!" Shadow declared as they ran faster.

"Jet…leave this to me! I'll take care of Shadow! You run ahead and get the chaos emerald in the Eclipse Canon! We only have 5 minutes!" Sonic informed. Jet nodded, and slowed down as the two hedgehogs began to fight.

She watched as Shadow did a homing-attack, and Sonic blocked it with his own. She saw Shadow finally able to strike Sonic, but Sonic got to strike Shadow as well. Before she could watch any more, the ground beneath her rumbled. She looked below her, and then in front. The platforms were falling!

"SONIC!" Jet called, and the blue hedgehog looked back to see what his friend was calling about.

Shadow took the opportunity and struck Sonic once more. Jet jumped to the next platform, and kept running, trying to think of a way she could sneak past Shadow. The two continued fighting, and Jet took the chance. She ran as fast as she could by them, and down the long walkway.

"NO!" Shadow cried, and chased after the brown animal. Sonic got up and followed suit.

Jet didn't dare look behind her. She knew Shadow was there, trying to stop what they were doing. She pushed her legs to run faster. She felt as if her lungs would burst, but if she gave up now, the whole world would be destroyed. She kept running.

Fortunately, Sonic caught up with Shadow, and was able to get him to trip.

"Why you!" Shadow exclaimed, and did a homing-attack.

"GO JET!" Sonic yelled, and Jet did so. She kept running. She tried to get the exhaustion she was feeling out of her head, but it didn't work. She couldn't run much farther, and she knew it.

Finally, the Eclipse Canon came into view. Jet smiled, and instantly found a new burst of energy. With that, she kept running.

Shadow gritted his teeth. No! This wasn't supposed to happen! He chased after the brown animal once more.

Sonic got up, a bit weakly, and followed. He could only pray that Jet would be able to get that chaos emerald in there…

Jet saw the Eclipse Canon at a close distance, and took a glance behind her. Shadow was there. She didn't have time to keep running and find a safer place to jump across. It was either saving the world, or letting it be destroyed…._What kind of either/or question is THAT? _Jet thought. _Saving the world is a definite! _ With that thought in mind, Jet gathered her courage, and jumped.

For a split second, she thought she wouldn't make it, but when she felt her arms and legs wrap around the small pole in the center, she knew she did. Before she could take a moment of relief, she was brought back to reality. She still had a job to do. With that, she shimmied up the pole.

"NO!" Shadow stomped a foot in the ground.

Sonic then entered the scene. "Come on, Jet!" he exclaimed, cupping his hands over his mouth.

For a second, Shadow stared at Sonic. The blue hedgehog didn't mind. He kept yelling encouragements to the brown animal. Shadow looked down. He failed….

Once Jet reached the top, she let go of one hand, and reached into her pocket to retrieve the chaos emerald. She held in front of her, and then slammed it with all of her might into the Eclipse Canon.

……….

Tails had done it. He finally defeated Eggman. He felt proud, and raised his walkie-talkie to deliver the good news…but his heart fell when he remembered there was no one there…

"Sonic…" he said. "I….I did it…."

"Great work, Tails!" exclaimed the all-too-familiar voice.

"Sonic!" Tails exclaimed into the walkie-talkie. Everyone stopped their act and lifted their heads. They're alive!

"Don't forget about me!" informed another voice.

"JET!" Shani yelled, and ran up to the walkie-talkie.

"Where are you guys?" Maya Eva wondered.

"Take a look outside!" Sonic suggested. The others exchanged glances, and did as told.

Their hearts were filled with tension as they watched the Eclipse Canon open...only to malfunction, and start causing small explosions. After all the little fires, they had to squint their eyes to see what their friends were talking about. There, barely visible on the small pole, were two heroes. One, a brown animal of some sort, and the other, a blue hedgehog.

"WE DID IT!" Maya Eva shouted, jumping up.

"YAHOO!" Lee yelled.

Amy took a glance at the supposed-to-be-dead Krystal, and could see a smile on her face. She knew she was trying to hide it, but it was to no avail. She was overjoyed, and so were they.

"WE DID IT, WE DID IT, UH-UH! UH-UH!" Shani cheered, and they all laughed. No one could explain how they felt. Their hearts were swelled with pride and joy, and nothing at that moment could break it down. Nothing.

But nobody saw the mad scientist sneak out of the room with what he wanted…

"GUYS! GUYS!" it was MJ. She burst into the room, her eyes sparkling with excitement.

"What is it, MJ?" Maya Eva asked.

"I just found out! Sonic and Jet are—"

"Alive? Yeah. We know. Pretty happy about it, too," said a voice behind them.

They turned to see Knuckles, Sonic, Jet, Darkness, and Mira enter the room.

MJ was speechless. For a second, she could only stare at Jet. She was alive… Without thinking, MJ ran over and hugged her friend, sobbing, "I'm sorry, Jet! I'm so sorry…"

Jet was surprised, but then hugged the seal back. "It's okay…I forgive you."

MJ loosened her hug, surprised. "You do?"

The brown animal nodded.

MJ couldn't explain what she felt. It was a mixture of relief, amazement, and thankfulness. Relief that Jet wasn't mad at her, amazement that Jet would actually forgive her for doing such an awful thing, and thankfulness to have such a friend as Jet. But there was still one thing MJ felt guilty about…

"But what about Krystal?" she asked, turning to the white hedgehog.

"See for yourself," Maya Eva said.

Jet and Sonic exchanged glances. What was that supposed to mean?

"Go, all of you. Pay your respects to the dead!" Shani said, a big smile on her face.

They furrowed their eyebrows. Okay…

They all walked over and gathered around. Darkness was the first to notice something…

"Hey, there's no blood!" she said.

"But…she's not breathing," Mira pointed out.

"Guys…she has a pulse," Knuckles informed.

Silence settled over them as the realization struck.

Lee looked behind him, then back at Krystal, and said, "Hey, Krys. Egghead's gone. You can stop acting now."

The white hedgehog immediately opened her eyes and took in big breaths of air. "Finally! I was wondering when he would leave!" she exclaimed, sitting up.

"KRYSTAL!" MJ shouted, and hugged her friend. So it wasn't her fault. She wasn't a murderer. In fact, what she did probably was a good thing! MJ couldn't help but feel overjoyed.

Krystal hugged her friend back. "Hey, MJ!" She couldn't help but smile herself. In fact, everyone couldn't help but smile. It seemed as though everything was finally going the way it should be…

"GROUP HUG!" Shani called, and instantly wrapped her arms around as many people as she could. The others laughed, and did the same.

As MJ laughed, she couldn't help but be proud. She had the best (if not craziest) friends in the world—and she loved it!

……….

Eggman laughed. The final chaos emerald was in place, and all was ready. His eyes were mainly fixed on the computer screen in front of him. Too bad he didn't see the one behind him, flashing, WARNING, or else he would've taken notice that a greater danger lay ahead of them…a FAR greater danger…


	13. Chapter 13

"What in the world!" Maya Eva exclaimed as the Space Colony started shaking rapidly. And as soon as it had begun, it stopped.

"…okay…" Lee muttered.

There was a moment of silence before Darkness said, "SH! Someone's coming!"

Everyone looked to see Rouge the Bat land in front of them. "It's all over for us…" she informed.

"…come again?" Shani asked.

"I just received word from my boss…the space colony, ARK, is falling at a great velocity…" the bat continued.

"What does velocity mean?" Shani whispered to Maya Eva.

The teal echidna shrugged, and continued to listen to what Rouge had to say.

"…it probably…will….impact earth!" she ended.

Everyone stared at the bat with unbelieving faces.

"You've GOT to be kidding me!" Shani blurted, exchanging glances with Maya Eva.

"I'm afraid I'm not…" Rouge stated sadly.

"Hey, what's that?" Amy exclaimed, pointing to the screen that was behind them.

Jet gasped. "….Gerald Robotnik…" she whispered, and the clip began.

"This is a death sentence to all you humans on earth. If my calculations are correct, the space colony ARK will collide with earth in 27 minutes and 53 seconds. All of you shall be destroyed, along with your beloved planet earth!" the professor stated.

"No…" MJ whispered. She couldn't believe it.

"…I plan to give you all a taste of my revenge, once all the seven chaos emeralds are collected. Once I initiate this program, it cannot be disabled. All of you ungrateful humans, who took everything away from me, will feel my loss and despair!"

"Is there anything else you want to say?" asked someone on the clip.

"No," Gerald Robotnik replied.

"READY!" and the clip ended.

"What's going on here? Who was that?" Amy asked.

Just then, the colony shook once more.

"The vibrations are getting worse!" Mira exclaimed.

"Professor Gerald Robotnik…" everyone turned to see the mad scientist's grandson. "…one of the greatest scientists of all time—and my grandfather!"

"What?" Knuckles asked, and then it struck him. "I knew it! You stop this right now, or else--!"

"I would've done this a long time ago if I had the chance," Eggman replied.

"What do you mean?"

Everyone turned to see Sonic and Jet step forward.

"Hmm…you're pretty persistent for a hedgehog, aren't you? And….you…thing. You're still alive, huh?" Eggman exclaimed.

Jet laughed. "Just letting Knuckles pilot the shuttle was more dangerous than you could EVER be!" she retorted.

Silence fell over everyone, until Eggman handed out an old book.

"What's this?" MJ asked, accepting it into her palm.

"It's my grandfather's diary," Eggman explained as the seal put it into the slot, and began reading what it said…

"I don't quite know what happened, or what went wrong. Was it a mistake to create the ultimate life form? I thought it would be something that would benefit mankind…but then the military guards landed on the space colony that day. They were sent to destroy the research project I had been working on. My colleagues at the research facility…my granddaughter, Maria…I hope you are all safe…"

At that moment, Gerald Robotnik's voice began to speak, along with MJ's.

"The colony was completely shut down, probably to prevent the prototype from falling into the wrong hands," they said together, and then MJ let the professor speak the rest.

"The ARK was shut down under the premise that there had been an accident. I found Maria's name among those who died when the ARK was shut down. She meant everything to me! And I couldn't bear the thought that she died because of my research! I lost everything! I had nothing more to live for! I went insane! All I could think about was to avenge her somehow, someway. I got scared as I no longer was able to control my thoughts. All I could think about was that I wanted it all to end. Based on my original projections, I was able to complete my project 'Shadow'. I designed its mind to be perfect, pure... I will leave everything, to him. If you wish, release and awaken it…"

"…if you wish to fill the world with destruction," MJ finished.

"So THAT'S why you released Shadow from the base!" Rouge concluded.

"The Canon's core is now highly reactive and explosive!" Eggman announced. Jet could sense that the scientist wanted to change the subject.

"That's because the energy of the chaos emeralds are overpowered!" Lee informed.

Eggman nodded, and said, "And now, the colony ARK will crash into earth, just like my grandfather predicted. That mad scientist!"

"That should be you, right?" Amy inquired, half-joking.

"We have to stop the space colony NOW!" Krystal exclaimed.

"The ARK's position may have shifted due to the amount of energy the chaos emeralds are giving! We have to stop the energy!" Darkness announced.

"But…how?" Tails questioned. Everyone thought a moment.

"THAT'S IT!" Maya Eva exclaimed suddenly. "Knuckles, we have to use your emerald!"

"What--?"

"Don't you know? The master emerald has the power to stop the chaos emeralds!" the teal echidna informed.

"You're right…" Knuckles said, bringing the green jewel out for everyone to see. "If I can get the master emerald over there, I just might be able to stop the energy!"

"Guys…I think I have bad news…" Tails informed. Everyone turned to the yellow fox.

"Define 'bad news'," Lee gulped.

"I don't think saving OUR world is all that we are going to do…" Tails said slowly.

"What do you mean?" Darkness asked.

Eggman caught onto what Tails was saying. "I think he means….we're also saving YOUR guys' earth as well…"

"WHAT!" Shani yelled.

"How?" Maya Eva asked.

"Because you guys are here…there is a disturbance in the veil between our dimension and your dimension…it's the same earth, just different sides. And…if our side gets destroyed…"

"…then our earth will be destroyed as well," Jet finished. Tails nodded.

"SNAP!" Shani exclaimed.

"Now we REALLY have to stop the energy!" Krystal informed.

"The energy of the chaos emeralds is moving to the core! It may be too late!" Mira exclaimed, watching the screen.

"There may be some time left—IF we pull together!" Eggman said.

A moment of silence settled over everyone. Working…together? For some, it was a great idea. For others…

"No worries! Just leave it to me! I'm the world's fastest hedgehog!" Sonic announced, giving a thumbs-up.

"Then, let's get to work!" Eggman's reply made some feel uneasy.

"Count me in!" Jet announced, sticking her hand out.

"Me too!" Shani laid hers on top of the brown animal's.

"If Shani's in, I'm in," Maya Eva informed, joining the hand-stack.

"Me four!" Lee replied.

"Me five," Tails said.

"Six," Rouge.

"Seven," Knuckles.

"Eight," Mira.

"Nine," Darkness.

"Ten," Eggman.

"And I guess that makes me eleven!" Sonic announced, placing his hand over the rest.

MJ, Krystal and Amy exchanged glances. Looked like they didn't get to have a say in if they were in or out…

"All right, then here is what we do…" and the ten other heroes listened as Eggman revealed his plan….

……..

"You ready, Lee?" Tails asked the person behind him.

"Ready as I'll ever be!" the fox exclaimed, and the two burst through the first door.

Robots were waiting for them, and they easily shot them down.

"Take that, you evil…thingies!" Lee exclaimed, firing at them.

Tails made a strange face. "Thingies?"

"Oh, whatever! We don't have time to be making our normal jokes! We have a world to save!" Lee said, and with that, he shot down the next door.

Tails smiled. Those words were music to his ears. Saving the world…one would consider it a very difficult and heavy job, but to him…it was more like an exciting movie that had him in it.

They shot down more robots that came their way.

"Okay…this just feels weird, Lee. We HAVE to make some jokes!" Tails finally admitted, while shooting down a robot.

"Yeah…I guess you're right…" Lee smiled, and shot down a door. "Adios, amigos!"

Tails laughed. "THAT'S more like it!" he exclaimed, and continued firing.

They shot down the next door, and gawked at what was in front of them.

"Um…Lee? Any suggestions?" Tails asked.

"Yeah, I got one. Aim for the little black ball with yellow cords around it," Lee informed, and Tails did so. At that moment, the whole room froze, and the lasers were gone.

"Whoa…" the fox mumbled.

"MOVE IT! We don't have much time before it come back to normal again!" Lee exclaimed.

"Oh, okay!"

Tails then directed the TORNADO towards a side, and jumped up on top of the platform in front of them, just when time went back.

"Oh…snap…" Lee muttered as three robots jumped in front of them.

"Lee! Our power is running low!" Tails shouted.

"Hurry! Let's shoot down these losers, and bust through the security door!" Lee replied, and the dynamic duo then worked together to shoot the robots down, before striking the door.

Once through, they could hear everyone cheering from their communicator.

"Great work, you two!" Eggman's voice came though.

Tails looked at Lee and smiled. "We really do make a great team, don't we?"

Lee smirked. "You bet."

…….

"All right, Mira. Now it's our turn!" Eggman announced to the half-robot, half-hedgehog beside him. The girl gave a thumbs-up before they set off.

"Okay, you bozos! It's time you learned your lesson!" Mira exclaimed, liking the blasters she had on her robotic arms.

Eggman only laughed.

The two shot some more robots, and continued.

"Mira, hang on to my walker!" Eggman announced, and the girl did so. Then, he jumped, and made his way slowly down to the platforms below.

"Die, die, die!" Mira said, firing at the explosives on the door in front.

They came through, and found more robots.

"I hate to ask…but will they give up?" Mira wondered.

"I'm afraid not…" Eggman replied, shooting the last one down.

As they made their way through, they came across new robots, and familiar robots, which only amazed Mira. They had so many weapons on the ARK…it was no wonder they shut it down! If it fell into the wrong hands (which it did), then it would cause complete havoc! …just like now.

"Mira, hurry!" Eggman cried, after shooting a familiar black ball with yellow cords.

The half-robot half-hedgehog shook her head out of her thoughts, and looked ahead. They were in what she considered one of the most difficult rooms. There was lava all around them, and the only way to get across was by jumping from black block to black block.

"HURRY!" Eggman cried, and jumped.

Mira nodded, and did the same, following a different route. She jumped, and jumped, listening to the beeping of the black ball. If it picked up pace, then the room would go back to normal, and there would be half-hedgehog half-robot stew tonight. But if she could make it over before then, then they could continue their mission!

Finally, she made it across, and looked behind her. "EGGMAN!" she called. As if in answer to her, the scientist just made it over when the room resumed.

"Phew, that was close!" he exclaimed, walking through the security door in front of them.

Mira chuckled. "You mind telling me!" She then said into their communicator, "Rouge! Darkness! Your turn!"

……….

"Now…where is that switch?" Rouge asked, after hearing the 'go' from Mira.

"Which switch? The big one in the middle? Or the one that opens the cage?" Darkness replied.

"The one that opens the cage…" the bat answered, looking around.

"Well…someone in this room might know," Darkness started, giving her own feminine charm.

"You sayin' something?" Rouge asked.

"Mmmm…maybe," the black hedgehog smiled.

Rouge narrowed her eyes. "You learned that from me, didn't you?"

"Mmmm…maybe," was all her partner said.

Rouge rolled her eyes. "Well, if that's the way you wanna be, then I guess we'll never find that switch…" she smiled, showing her charm.

Darkness sighed. "Fine…but you're going to have to stay right beside me, or else you might get squished!" With that, she burst off toward a waterfall of weird orange-red liquid.

"Hey, wait!" Rouge called, and flew after.

"Follow me!" Darkness exclaimed, and jumped through the waterfall.

Rouge rolled her eyes and did as told.

"Now…here is where you need to stay close to me…" Darkness said, and walked over to the side wall in front and began climbing.

Rouge followed with ease.

"Where's the switch?" the bat asked.

"You see that huge block?" Darkness dared to let go with one hand and pointed in the direction of the constant-moving box behind them.

Rouge nodded.

"It's behind there. We need to get the box to stop out here, so we can get inside. The only way to do that is to push a black ball, which will freeze time for a moment. Using that moment, we have to sneak inside," Darkness explained.

Rouge nodded, but then said, "Darkness…you might have to go in there alone."

"What do you mean?" the black hedgehog asked.

"When I push the ball, you rush inside. With your speed, you should zip in, push the switch, and zip out before I have to push it twice," Rouge informed.

Darkness thought a moment, and then nodded. "It's risky…but it would take less time. Let's do it!"

Rouge smiled, and grabbed the hedgehog's hand as she glided over. Now on the opposite wall, Darkness climbed to the side of the hole where the black block slid in and out. Rouge climbed lower, and stayed below the hole and near the black ball, ready to push it at the right moment.

The bat's green eyes watched the box intently. In and….Rouge pushed the button.

"GO!" Rouge yelled, and in a flash of light, Darkness ran inside.

Rouge only had to wait for a few seconds, for then Darkness ran back, and made it safely on the wall.

"Did you do it?" Rouge asked. The hedgehog nodded.

"All right! Now let's get back!" she praised, and grabbed Darkness's hand once more as she glided out of the waterfall. To her surprise, the four cage's bars were now down, revealing the large switch.

"Together?" Darkness asked.

Rouge smiled. "Together."

Both of them then stood on top of the switch, and watched with pride as the orange-red liquid rose higher and higher…

……

"All right…Knuckles, Maya Eva, and Shani. See the security door? You need to open it. Find the switch to do so!" Eggman said over the communicator.

"Right…ready Knuckles?" Maya Eva asked the red echidna swimming in the liquid.

"You bet!" he replied.

"Ready, Shani?" Maya Eva asked.

The light blue hedgehog nodded.

"All right. With that said…DIVE, DIVE, DIVE!" Maya Eva exclaimed, and Knuckles instantly swam lower, searching for the black ball.

_Where is it? _he thought. He paused for a moment to see if it was nearby. He swam lower.

He smiled. _Tricky, tricky, tricky… _he then pushed the ball, and swam up for further instructions.

Once time stopped, Shani ran to the area behind the lasers, and did a homing-attack to get rid of the boxes below. Surprisingly, there was a bounce-pad below them, and pushed her up. There, she grabbed onto a lever, and was lifted up. She landed on the floor, and examined the area she was in.

_Now where is that switch? _Shani wondered. She smiled. _Ah-ha! Thought you could hide, didn't you? _She thought as she walked towards the white balloon. With a proud heart, she pushed it, and watched with interest as it glowed.

"All right, that's your cue, Eva! Go!" Knuckles said to the teal echidna, and she instantly swam below.

She swam over to the now-not-guarded-by-lasers tunnel, and swam through it.

_Man, am I glad for Knuckles' air necklace! _she thought, and continued her mission.

Once through, she saw a familiar black ball, but enemies were around. _Snap! I can't attack them underwater! This is going to be harder than I thought…_ With that, she swiftly dodged their lasers, and pushed the black ball. Maya Eva smiled when she saw their frozen expressions, but then quickly swam through the next tunnel, using her time wisely.

Once in the next room, she dodged lasers again, and pushed the black ball. This time, it was going to be harder. She knew how the game went. The tunnel was too long to go in all at once. You'd have to quickly push the second black ball in the tunnel if you ever hoped of getting through.

She swam as fast as she could, and was able to push the second ball, but when she got passed the first set of cages, time resumed, and she was vacuumed out of the tunnel.

_SNAP! _she thought, realizing that every time she tried this, she was going to get more and more tired. Trying to be strong, she tried once more.

After pushing the second ball, she swam as fast as she could, and found that she barely made it into the next room. Just as she was about to celebrate, a laser struck the spot next to her. Enemies. She didn't have time to waste. She had to get out of here quick.

She quickly dodged them once more, and pushed the button. To her surprise, that was it. The security door was now open.

……….

"All right, you two! This is it! You are our last hope! We're depending on you!" Eggman said over the communicator.

"Why doesn't that give me a positive feeling?" Jet wondered as they slid down the pole.

"I dunno…doesn't give me a great feeling, either," Sonic admitted, jumping down to the platforms below.

"Snap!" Jet exclaimed, seeing the many enemies.

"No worries…" Sonic pushed the black ball in front, and the enemies froze.

"…cool!" Jet exclaimed.

"Yeah…not so cool….I'm going to have to grab you again…" Sonic said.

"…you do?" Jet looked ahead. Her friend was right. There was only one set of enemies, and in order to get both of them through, they had to do that same method.

She sighed. "Fine…"

With that said, Sonic wrapped his arm around her waist, and together they did homing-attacks one at a time until they reached the end.

"Now…continuing!" Sonic announced, and the two ran ahead, only to find some robots.

They easily knocked them down, and one door opened. They ran through, but found enemies there.

"SNAP!" it was Sonic's turn to say that.

The two waited until the robots with shields fired at them, and then knocked them down.

"All right, let me get him Jet!" Sonic was about to jump, when Jet grabbed his arm.

"WAIT!" she called.

"What? Why?" Sonic asked, having a puzzled expression.

"That enemy doesn't have a floor beneath him!" Jet pointed.

The blue hedgehog looked. She was right. There was no floor.

"Eh heh…now what?" Sonic asked.

Jet looked around, and then smiled. Omachao.

Sonic followed her gaze, and then smiled also. The two walked casually over.

"Hi! I'm Omachao! And I'm here to help you!" the robot chao greeted.

"Yes…help would be very much appreciated," Jet said, leaning over.

"Well, how can I help you?" Omachao asked.

"By this!" with that, Sonic picked the chao up, and threw it at the enemy—a perfect hit.

"I've been waiting so long to do that!" he said, and the two then continued their mission.

They knocked down more robots, and opened more doors, getting closer and closer to the core. Surprisingly, Knuckles, Maya Eva, and Shani joined them towards the end.

"What are you guys doing here?" Sonic asked, as the three accompanied them.

"I think you forgot that we have to use the Master Emerald in order to stop the chaos emeralds?" Maya Eva reminded, kicking down a robot.

Sonic didn't reply. He didn't want to admit he had forgotten, so he kept quiet.

The five continued, working together as a team. Jet and Sonic found it was a lot easier with them, and was enjoying their fun remarks as well as their own. All in all, they were doing great, and so far, it looked like both sides of earth might just live on…

………

"It isn't fair," MJ complained. "They get to go on the adventure, while we just walk around here and wait!"

"Join the club," Krystal said. "They've been doing this to me and Amy from the start!"

MJ smirked. "Well…you could say the same about me. I've had a sprained ankle from the beginning of this whole thing! They wouldn't let me in on anything they were doing."

"Yeah…but I've been through it a lot longer than you guys have! They always leave me behind while they get all the fun!" Amy announced.

They walked past an open doorway that led to the deck, and nobody but Krystal saw who was in it.

"Guys!" she called, and MJ and Amy walked back to the white hedgehog.

"What is it, Krys?" Amy asked.

"Look! It's Shadow!" Krystal pointed towards the black hedgehog.

MJ found herself staring in his direction.

"What should we do?" Amy asked.

MJ furrowed her eyebrows, gathered her strength and ran towards him.

"MJ! Wait!" Krystal called, and ran after.

Amy shrugged, and followed.

"Shadow, we need you, please help us!" MJ begged, stopping beside him.

"It's all going according to plan. There's no reason I should help them—besides, there's no way to save anyone," Shadow replied in a mono-tone.

Krystal was about to say, "Yes there is!" but, instead, she let MJ do the talking.

"Shadow…" MJ started, she looked down, then out towards earth. She sighed. "Shadow, I know some people are selfish…and some fight over the most trivial things…but deep down, they have a good heart."

"Everyone does," Krystal agreed.

Shadow said nothing.

MJ took a deep breath. "Shadow…you have to help them. If you don't….people on earth won't get a chance to fulfill their wishes. Don't you want them to be happy?"

No answer.

MJ tried once more. "Shadow…people have wishes, just like you do…"

No reaction.

MJ hesitated as she wondered if she should tell him. Finally, her mind made its decision.

"Shadow…Maria had a wish, a promise that she made to you," she said quietly.

The black hedgehog turned to look at her. "How do you know?"

"I…" MJ looked down in guilt. "I found her diary."

The seal braced herself for some yelling from him, but to her surprise, there was none. He was waiting for her to tell more.

"What was her promise?" Shadow asked.

"She promised that even if she died, that you would be able to see earth. She promised that she would make sure you could see it for yourself…and she kept it…" MJ replied sadly.

Shadow looked at earth. "Then that only confirms that I must keep my promise I made to her as well…"

MJ looked at the hedgehog in surprise. "Shadow…that's not what you promised Maria…"

"How do you know!" Shadow demanded. "You weren't there 50 years ago, so don't give me any of those excuses!"

MJ looked away. "I thought we already discussed this," she replied coldly.

Shadow looked back at earth. The seal was right. They HAD been through this talk before.

MJ slowly turned her head back around to face the ebony hedgehog. "Shadow…I'm sorry. I didn't mean to sound harsh…"

The hedgehog shook his head.

MJ turned 90 degrees to her right so then she could face him as she declared, "Shadow…please, I beg of you! Please help them! Give them a chance, Shadow! Please!"

In an instant, Shadow's mind went back. Back to what Maria had told him when she was about to die…

"Shadow, I beg of you…do it for me…for a better future. For all the people who live on that planet…give them a chance to be happy. Let them live their dreams, Shadow…I know you can do it. That's the reason why you were brought unto this world. Sayanora, Shadow the Hedgehog…" her melodic voice drifted through his mind.

Shadow could feel a tear escape. "That's my promise I made to her, and I have to keep it," he said.

MJ could feel a tear escape as well, and a smile spread on her face. But it wasn't one of sorrow. It was one of pride.

He shook his head, blinking away the tears. "I have to go now!" he turned to MJ. "I have to keep my promise I made to Maria—and you!" With that, he ran off.

Krystal smiled, watching him leave.

"Good job, MJ…" Amy turned around, but the seal wasn't there.

"Krystal!" Amy cried, looking around.

"What?" the white hedgehog questioned.

"Look! MJ's gone!" Amy pointed to the spot where the seal last was.

Krystal looked. Her friend was right. MJ wasn't there.

The two exchanged glances. Where did she go?

………

Sonic, Jet, Maya Eva, Knuckles and Shani ran down the path.

"Hey! Look!" Shani pointed.

"It looks like the shrine back on Angel Island!" Knuckles exclaimed.

Sonic shook his head. "They probably made it that way to harness the power of the chaos emeralds!"

They stopped running as they saw Gerald's picture once more, and his voice saying, "All of you ungrateful humans, who took everything away from me, will feel my loss and despair!" His voice echoed and bounced off the walls.

Suddenly, a bright light that almost blinded our heroes shined, enlightening the room greatly.

"Guys, here it comes!" Jet reminded, closing her eyes.

There was a roar, and then a thud, as the light dimmed.

The five looked at the giant dark red lizard in front of them with fear.

"Is this…the prototype of the ultimate life form that was supposed to be encapsulated?" Knuckles asked.

It was huge! Shani clung to Maya Eva's arm. Sure, the kids from earth had battled it many times in the video game…but this was different. This was reality. And in reality, this thing was probably more than one hundred times their size.

It roared at them, opening its mouth, and showing its teeth.

Shani and Maya Eva screamed in fear, and clung to each other.

Sonic narrowed his eyes, but then a low voice behind them said, "Leave this one to me."

They turned, and saw none other than Shadow walked past them and towards the lizard…or thing…whatever it was. The Biolizard eyed its prey with great interest.

"You mean 'us'," said another voice.

Everyone turned again. Their eyes opened wide, and even Shadow was surprised at who stepped forward.

"MJ…"

The seal took her place beside him. She gently wrapped her hand around his, and said, "Shadow, this is _our _fight. _Our _planet's life on the line. We do this together."

Shadow stared at MJ, amazed by her courage. And for the first time in a very, very long time…he smiled. He actually smiled.

"All right…" he said, and looked back at the others behind them. "We'll take care of this while you guys run to get the chaos emeralds!" With that said, Shadow and MJ turned back to face their enemy.

MJ didn't know what she had gotten herself into, but most of her didn't care. This was her fight along with Shadow's. She knew it, and she had to do it.

As the biolizard roared, though, she began to have second thoughts…


	14. Chapter 14

MJ dodged the biolizard's tail for the thousandth time. For some reason, it kept catching up to her, and she found herself having to either duck or jump.

But Shadow had the more difficult part. He had to grind up the pipe that led from the lizard's mouth to its life support on its back. MJ was a great distraction for the lizard, though…

"HELLO! Over here!" MJ would call, waving her hands to catch the lizard's attention. "Yeah…yeah, you see me? Don't I look yummy?"

_I never thought in my whole entire life that I'd ever say that…_she thought.

The lizard would fall for it, and either chase after her, or send some sickening black electric balls in order to stop her from running. MJ got pretty good at dodging the attacks, and felt like she was jump-roping…sorta.

As Shadow hit the life support for the third time, he realized the lizard had some new tricks up its sleeves. It was getting quicker, and soon, MJ wouldn't be fast enough to run away any longer.

After having fallen for the 'don't I look yummy?' method, the biolizard let out a roar that shook the entire room.

"What the--?" Shadow exclaimed.

After the rumbling stopped, little pink balls circled around the lizard, almost like protectors. Surprisingly, they started shooting off at the two at amazing speeds!

Shadow furrowed his eyebrows as he brainstormed. The biolizard had caught on to what they were doing, and had devised another way to get rid of them. There had to be another way to get to the life support…

"SHADOW!" MJ!

Shadow turned and saw the seal desperately trying to avoid the swift balls, but it was to no avail. She was getting hit by a lot of them.

Quickly, he ran over, and picked her up, dodging the balls as he ran.

"Shadow…thanks…" the seal breathed.

He nodded, and stopped running, but didn't put her down. If he did, she would be hit by more balls. He had to keep her in his hands at all times, but yet he still had to attack the biolizard….an idea popped into his head.

"MJ! Listen closely because I think I know how to get rid of this creep…" and the hedgehog whispered his plan.

MJ looked a little scared. "You sure?"

"Positive," was the reply.

With that, still carrying MJ, he hopped from one ball to the other, using them like stairs to get up.

"GO, MJ!" he yelled, throwing the seal.

MJ stuck her arms out, and pressed with all of her might on the life support. The biolizard roared with pain. Using the momentum from the push, MJ directed herself over the lizard, doing a complete flip.

Shadow caught her, and the two watched with glee as it only seemed to make their enemy get all the angrier.

"Care to do it again?" Shadow asked.

MJ smiled. "You bet."

With that, they did their act once more.

"Shadow! Look! He's getting weaker!" MJ exclaimed with joy.

"You're right! One more time?" Shadow smiled.

MJ laughed. "What do you think?"

But this last time had a problem. The biolizard knew what they were up to. With great patience, it waited until Shadow threw MJ, and then using its tail, it slapped the seal away like a fly.

"MJ!" Shadow called after her, but the seal didn't hear. He watched in horror as she just fell to the ground like a doll, unconscious.

"Why…you!" at that moment, Shadow felt a rage that he had only felt once before. Using everything he had, he bounced from ball to ball, and finally did one last homing-attack to the biolizard, avenging MJ.

After the lizard disappeared, he ran over to the fallen seal.

"MJ! Don't die on me!" he called, shaking her.

No answer.

"Oh, c'mon, c'mon!" he exclaimed to nothing, shaking the seal.

To his relief, MJ's eyes finally fluttered open.

"Ow…my head…" she murmured, her hand covering her sore spot.

"Thank goodness…" the black hedgehog whispered.

Without thinking, Shadow gently put his hand where it hurt on her head, and began rubbing his thumb around to massage the pain.

MJ blushed, but closed her eyes, feeling like a small child.

"Shadow! MJ! Come over here, quick!" Maya Eva called, interrupting the quiet moment.

Quickly, the two got up, and rushed over, joining everyone else behind Knuckles.

"The servers are the seven chaos…chaos is…power…power is enriched by the heart. Only you can do this! Stop the chaos emeralds!" Knuckles exclaimed, and everyone watched with hope as the large emerald spun.

The ARK shook once more.

"Since we've stopped the chaos emeralds, why is the colony still on a crash-course to earth?" Knuckles asked, falling down, as so did everyone else.

At that moment, they all heard Professor Gerald's voice speak loud and clear… "The biolizard has become one with the space colony—it is determined to keep it on its collision course!"

A moment of silence swept over the group. Now what?

"Sonic! Shadow!" Shani suddenly exclaimed, a big smile on her face.

"What?" the two hedgehogs asked in unison.

"The chaos emeralds!" MJ chimed in, pointing to the seven jewels.

Shadow and Sonic's eyes fell upon the little gems, and then fell upon each other as the same idea began to form in their heads…in fact, in everyone's heads…

…well, except for Knuckles…

………

It was only Shadow and Sonic in the room, now. The others went back to the deck, ready to watch the last fight. The fight to save both sides of earth. Everyone could feel it in their hearts. The feeling that a miracle was about to happen.

"You ready?" Sonic asked, standing across from the other hedgehog.

"Ready as I'll ever be," Shadow replied, and the two closed their eyes, focusing on the emeralds.

If you were there, you would be amazed at the light show. Each emerald suddenly lifted high in the air, and encircled the two hedgehogs. Sonic lifted his head high, and accepted this new feeling, while Shadow, a bit new, kept his focus and his head straight.

Suddenly, each felt a new power pulse through their veins, becoming one with their blood. They felt stronger, and lighter as the emeralds empowered them.

Sonic opened his now crimson eyes, and Shadow opened his as well. Sonic was a golden color, while Shadow was a cross between silver and gold, but he still had his red stripes.

The two smirked, and in a flash of light, they were gone.

………

"Look! There they are!" Tails exclaimed, pointing at the small lights.

"Yeah! All right!" Lee cheered.

"GO SONIC AND SHADOW!" Shani yelled.

Shadow stared at the monster in front of him…when suddenly, deep down in his heart, he heard the encouragement and cheers the others were giving…it was an unexplainable feeling, but yet Shadow felt that it strengthened him even more.

"YOU GUYS CAN DO IT!" Mira shouted.

Sonic heard the same as well. He smiled. There was no way he was going to let his friends down.

Eggman watched as Sonic made the first move and successfully dived towards the ugly swelling spot on the finalhazard.

"Fight on…" he whispered.

Sonic was surprised to have heard Eggman say an encouragement, but he smiled. That scientist could be a bit crazy on the outside, but deep down, he was really a good man.

"COME ON, SHADOW!" MJ cried.

Shadow seemed to only get all the stronger when he heard the seal's voice. It gave him more courage and more strength than he had ever felt before…but something was missing. There was something that was draining the power…and Sonic felt it, too. All of a sudden, their lights began to dim…

"What the…LOOK! Their lights…they're…" Amy was at a loss for words.

"They're loosing power!" Tails exclaimed.

Everyone was consumed with fear.

"How could that happen? I thought that chaos emeralds had unlimited power!" Maya Eva informed.

"They do…which is what I can't understand…" Tails shook his head.

Jet was thinking. There had to be a way to strengthen their power! But…how? Suddenly, it struck her. She whispered her plan in Darkness's ear. Darkness whispered it to Maya Eva. Maya Eva to Shani. Shani to Krystal. Krystal to MJ. MJ to Lee. And Lee to Mira.

Tails looked beside him. Lee wasn't there!

"Lee? Lee!" Tails looked around.

"Krystal's not here!" Amy exclaimed.

"The others aren't here as well!" Rouge informed.

"Where could they have gone?" Eggman asked, scratching his head.

The five looked at each other in confusion. Where did their friends from the other side of earth go?

To tell you the truth, they went back to the Master Emerald which was still at the shrine. The eight friends walked up to it bravely, and circled around it.

"If the Mater Emerald has the power to stop the chaos emeralds…surely it has the power to strengthen them as well," Jet concluded.

Everyone nodded, and locked hands, closing their eyes.

"Now, Maya Eva!" Jet commanded.

The teal echidna spoke, "The servers are the seven chaos…chaos is power…power is enriched by the heart. Please, strengthen the chaos emeralds!"

At that moment, all eight friends were lifted into the air. Most of them screamed—in fact, all of them did, but the unexplainable comfort they had in their hearts soon stopped it.

Suddenly, they began spinning in a circle around the Master Emerald. In fact, they were spinning so violently, that if one of them were to let go, everyone would be blown away.

Each child gave their encouragements, their wishes towards Sonic and Shadow, strengthening them, and giving them everything they could.

But it was not enough.

Suddenly, Krystal felt a song burst into her soul. In fact, everyone did. Each could hear a familiar tune dancing in the air, and felt the urge to sing, but Krystal was the first, despite her fear…

_Krystal: Can you feel life movin' through your mind? _

_Ooh, looks like it came back for more -- Yeah _

As Sonic watched Shadow make a successful dive, he heard something. It sounded like…singing…

Jet smiled. Krystal overcame her fear. No longer did she care about what others thought about her voice. The brown animal felt so proud, she joined in.

_Jet: Can you feel time slippin' down your spine? _

_Ooh, you try and try to ignore -- Yeah _

Shadow heard is as well. Who was singing and what were they singing? Whatever it was, it seemed to make him immensely stronger, and he didn't want them to stop.

_Jet and Krystal: But you can hardly swallow _

_Your fears and pain! _

_When you can't help but follow _

_Krystal: It puts you right back where you came! _

Shadow dived, and smiled. He started to like this song!

Soon, the six other children caught on and joined in, singing and encouraging Sonic and Shadow. It was their wish to win, and wishes were eternal.

_All: Live and learn! _

_Krystal: Hanging on the edge of tomorrow! _

_All: Live and learn! _

_Jet: From the works of yesterday! _

_All: Live and learn! _

Mira could feel a burst of courage and a wanting to join—and she did.

_Mira: If you beg or if you borrow!_

The half-robot-half-hedgehog smiled. It felt great to step out of her comfort zone, and she wanted to do it again.

_All: Live and learn! _

_Krystal: You may never find your way… _

_Shani: Whoa, oh, oh, oh, yeah... _

Sonic smiled. Only Shani could do that!

_Maya Eva: Can you feel life tangle you up inside?_

_Shani: Yeah!_

_Maya Eva and Shani: Now you're face-down on the floor! _

_Shani: Oh!_

The two exchanged glances. That was fun!

_All: But you can't save your sorrow _

_You've paid in trade! _

_When you can't help but follow _

_Krystal: It puts you right back where you came! _

Shadow made a successful dive, but something was wrong. Through all the singing in this song, there was one voice he longed to hear above the rest…

_All: Live and learn! _

_Lee: Hanging on the edge of tomorrow! _

_All: Live and learn! _

_Mira: From the works of yesterday! _

Sonic dived once more, and checked his ring power. He was doing great so far, but his mind wondered about Shadow.

_All: Live and learn! _

_Darkness: If you beg or if you borrow! _

_All: Live and learn!_

_Krystal: You may never find your way… _

_Maya Eva: Whoa, whoa, whoa... _

_Shani: Oh, yeah! _

As they let the song play, Sonic and Shadow kept attacking. Suddenly, Shadow started hearing new voices cheering them on. Same with Sonic. Suddenly, their minds clicked. It wasn't only the people on ARK cheering them on. It was everyone on this side of earth encouraging them and wishing them to win. As they continued fighting, they didn't realize that those wishes would stay with them, for, as I said before, wishes are eternal.

_MJ: Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah... _

Shadow felt another smile come across his face. Yes. That was who he wanted to hear! With newfound strength, he made another dive. Back on Sonic's side, the finalhazard wasn't going easy. Suddenly, familiar pink balls surrounded it, and fired off at the blue hedgehog. _Listen to the song, _a voice said. Both hedgehogs heard it, and obeyed. The song strengthened them, gave them courage, and a new will to fight.

_All: There's a face searching far, so far and wide _

_There's a place where you dreamed you'd never find _

_Krystal: Hold on to what if... _

_Krystal and Darkness: Hold on to what if! _

_All: Live and learn! _

_Jet: Hanging on the edge of tomorrow! _

_All: Live and learn! _

_MJ: From the works of yesterday! _

_All: Live and learn! _

_Mira: If you beg or if you borrow!_

_All: Live and learn!_

_Krystal: You may never find your way! _

_All: Live and learn! _

Sonic smiled. There was something missing in this song, though…

_Lee: Hanging on the edge of tomorrow! _

_All: Live and learn!_

_Sonic: From the works of yesterday! _

Everyone was surprised to hear the blue hedgehog singing with them, but they smiled. That only strengthened the chaos emeralds' power even more.

_All: Live and learn! _

Shadow gave a smirk. All right. If that's the way Sonic wanted to do things…

_Shadow: If you beg or if you borrow!_

MJ got a big smile on her face when she heard the ebony hedgehog's voice. It gave her a burst of joy, and she couldn't help but even give that away to strengthen the two hedgehogs.

_All: Live and learn! _

_Krystal: You may never find your way! _

The song echoed and resounded against the walls. They didn't want the song to stop, but unfortunately it did have to…but that didn't mean their spinning and encouraging had to stop. No, that continued. There was still a creep to destroy, and Sonic and Shadow were almost done.

As it gave one final cry, the finalhazard fell hopelessly away. But by then, the ARK was already caught in earth's exosphere, grabbed by gravity.

Sonic and Shadow flew down towards earth, and stopped, gathering their strength. This was it…what it all came down to. It was now, or never.

"You ready, Shadow?" Sonic asked.

"Ready as I'll ever be," was the reply, and the two burst off, now a gigantic beam of bright light.

"Shadow…" MJ thought, hoping the ebony hedgehog heard her.

"MJ?" Shadow thought.

"Shadow…I…" the seal paused, her heart beating. It was now or never. "Shadow…I…I love you!"

Shadow seemed to be taken aback at what the seal said…but yet, it only seemed to make him stronger, and the light became brighter.

"MJ…" he was about to say something, when another voice spoke.

"**Shadow…" **the familiar melodic voice drifted.

"Maria!" Shadow gasped.

"**Shadow…give them a chance…to be happy…" **Maria's voice whispered.

Shadow furrowed his eyebrows, and returned his attention to his mission.

"MJ…you gave me more than I could ever thank you for. You made me realize the error of my ways…thank you. And now…for you and for Maria!" Shadow said the last part out loud, and Sonic didn't know who he was talking to, but shrugged it off.

"No way THAT'S getting through!" he exclaimed, holding his hand out.

As the ARK was just a little more than ten meters away, Sonic yelled, "NOW, SHADOW!"

The two faced each other, grabbed each other's hands, and exclaimed together, "CHAOS CONTROL!"

And then, a brilliant flash of light.


	15. Chapter 15

MJ's eyes never left the metal door. Her heart was beating in anticipation. Did Shadow make it? Or did he…

Finally, it opened, and everyone held their breath…only to see one single hedgehog.

"Where's Shadow?" MJ asked the question that was running through everyone's heads.

Sonic shook his head, closing his green eyes.

Instantly, MJ felt tears streaming down her cheeks.

"MJ…" Maya Eva reached out a hand to comfort her friend, but the seal shook it off, and walked away.

Sonic walked forward, and held out his hand. The teal echidna looked, and found an object of great value, and put it in her pocket, keeping her eyes on MJ.

A moment of silence settled until Rouge asked, "Do you really think that Shadow was the Ultimate life form?"

"Well…he was what he was, a brave and heroic hedgehog who gave his life for his people," Jet replied sadly.

Eggman walked over to the large window at the front, aware that two certain foxes were following him.

"You know," he said suddenly, "I've always looked up to my grandfather when I was young. I had told myself that I wanted to be exactly like him…but now I wonder if he actually meant to try and destroy earth."

"Well, if there's one thing I know…" Tails cast a glance at Lee, and the two exclaimed in unison, "We all stopped it together!"

Eggman smiled fondly. "Yes…I guess you're right," he said.

Amy and Krystal walked towards another window, and gazed out at the stars.

"Krystal…how did you meet Shadow?" Amy asked.

"Well…" Krystal felt her nose start to get numb with sadness, but then she let out a small laugh. "…you could say it wasn't the nicest of meetings…but I met him none-the-less…" the white hedgehog cast a glance at the weeping seal. "But MJ knew him better than all of us…"

Amy nodded. "She sure did," the pink hedgehog agreed.

Rouge couldn't help but feel slightly guilty. She was so deep in thought as she looked out the window, that she didn't notice the black hedgehog walk up beside her.

"What are you thinking about, Rouge?" Darkness asked.

The bat jumped slightly, looked at the girl beside her, and then continued looking out the window.

"Nothing…" she answered.

Darkness gave her a practical look. "I don't think it's nothing. Is it Shadow?"

Rouge hesitated. "Partially."

_The other half is MJ…I wasn't able to get those two together…_she told herself.

The bat's reply confused the black hedgehog. "Is it my scar?" she finally asked.

Rouge looked at Darkness, surprised, but then calmly looked back out the window again. "…I had forgotten about that, but now that you mention it…"

Another practical look. "Rouge, it's okay. You don't have to feel guilty about giving me a scar that will stay with me my whole life. In fact, I thank you."

Rouge's head snapped around as she stared at Darkness. "What?"

"I said I thank you for it. If you hadn't given me this scar, then I wouldn't have a memento of what happened here," Darkness smiled.

Rouge smirked. "Yeah…I guess you're right…"

MJ's face was buried in her arms. No…she knew it would happen. She knew Shadow would die. How could she have thought differently now?

"MJ…" the seal lifted her face to see Maya Eva and Shani.

"What?" she asked, rubbing her nose and sniffing.

"We just want to tell you that we're sorry, about what happened," Shani replied, walking to the other side of her friend.

"Oh…" MJ looked down.

Maya Eva fingered the object in her pocket, deciding if it would be better to give it to her now. She decided against it.

"MJ…things like this happen, you know? Family members die every day, people are lost…you're not alone in this pain," Maya Eva said, putting a hand on her friend's shoulder.

"Yeah, but it's not everyday that the person you love dies…" MJ retorted.

Shani and Maya Eva exchanged bewildered glances. MJ loved Shadow?

"I thought, I actually hoped, that Shadow would come back, but he didn't. I don't know how I could've thought otherwise. It happened in the story. Why couldn't the same happen now?" she continued, putting a hand on her face to hide the tears.

"Oh, MJ…" Maya Eva and Shani embraced their crying friend and let her weep on their shoulders.

"Why did it he have to die on my birthday?" the seal asked nothing. "Why? Why couldn't this happen on any other day?"

"Because then you wouldn't have met Shadow on your birthday in the first place," Shani said, loosening the hug.

MJ looked at her friend, confused.

"If it wasn't your birthday, do you think meeting Shadow would have been just as special? No. It couldn't have been. You fell in love with him on your birthday, and that's what made it all the more special, MJ," the light blue hedgehog continued.

The seal looked down. "I guess…"

"MJ, we saved both sides of earth! How awesome is that? We got to see Sonic and friends—a privilege barely anyone gets! And guess what? It happened on _your _birthday. On _your _birthday we saved earth. On _your _birthday you met Shadow and fell in love. On _your _birthday we got to live the adventure of Sonic Adventure 2: Battle. How cool is that?" Maya Eva replied, smiling.

"To tell the truth, I'm kind of jealous," the teal echidna added, making the seal giggle a bit. Her friends were right. It was on her birthday that they all were heroes, and she wouldn't have it any other way.

"Hey! I'M the one who's supposed to make her laugh!" Shani added playfully.

MJ giggled again.

"Well, you just did! You happy?" Maya Eva retorted, putting her hands on her hips.

"You bet I am!" Shani exclaimed.

MJ laughed all the more as she added one last thought, _And on my birthday, I have the funniest friends in the world!_

Jet and Sonic said nothing. It was obvious both of them were thinking about Shadow, but neither wanted to talk about it.

"Are you guys going to go back?" Sonic asked finally.

Jet looked at the blue hedgehog, and then looked down. "Yeah…I guess…but I don't know how we would, though..."

"I think I may know how!" Eggman informed, walking up to them.

"How?" Jet asked.

"Because of chaos control, and the disturbance in the veil, there should be a portal that is opened around here somewhere, leading back to the other side of earth," the scientist explained.

Everyone's attention flew to the center of the deck, as Eggman was searching on the screen for any source of extra energy.

"Ah-ha! There it is! It is in the hallway right outside our door! How convenient!" he exclaimed, and one by one, everyone filed out of the room, heading towards the portal's location.

MJ was the last, and she looked behind her out at the deck that she probably would never see again. She sighed. It felt so sad to leave…

The seal took a deep breath, and brought a hand up to wave.

"Sayonara, Shadow the Hedgehog…" she whispered, and with that, she turned and followed everyone else.

"Whoa…" was all that Shani said, staring at the intense yellow light of the portal.

"Weird…" was Maya Eva's opinion.

Krystal looked down. "I guess this is it…" she said sadly, tears coming to her eyes.

Amy hugged her, and the white hedgehog hugged back.

"I don't want to go…but I have to…" she whispered.

"Just don't forget me, and I won't forget you," Amy replied.

The two friends embraced tighter, not wanting to let go.

Jet and Sonic looked at each other. It was apparent as leaders of the two groups that they were trying to be strong and not cry.

"Oh, who cares?" Jet finally exclaimed, letting the tears fall.

"I'm going to miss you, Jet. I have to admit: you're pretty fast," Sonic complimented.

"Thanks, but I'm not as good as the fastest—besides, I learned from the best," the brown animal winked.

The two shook hands, but then hugged tightly.

Darkness and Rouge exchanged glances. Both were crying.

"I'm going to miss you, Rouge," Darkness said, arms out for a hug.

The bat just stared at the outstretched arms for a moment. "I'm not one to usually hug, but…I guess I can make up some excuse." She smiled and the two embraced.

Knuckles walked up to Maya Eva and Shani.

"Hey, you guys make up a great team," the red echidna complimented.

"Thankees!" Shani exclaimed.

Maya Eva couldn't help but let her tears fall. "Knuckles, I'm going to miss searching for those keys with you," she said, remembering their mission that they had worked together in.

"Yeah…I just hope I don't run into any more ghosts," the red echidna replied, and the three laughed.

It felt good to laugh, but somehow, it only made everyone cry all the more.

"I'm not one to usually cry…" Eggman began, blinking his eyes.

Mira looked at the mad scientist, and smiled, despite her tears. "Neither am I…but things change, you know?"

"Yes…I guess they do…" Eggman replied.

Even though everyone else was having a hard time leaving, it was Tails and Lee who had the hardest.

"I'm going to miss your random remarks…" Tails said, crying as he hugged his look-a-like.

"And I'm going to miss co-piloting the TORNADO," Lee replied in a quivering voice.

"We were a great team, weren't we?" Tails asked.

"The best," Lee replied.

MJ stood alone, but she didn't care. She was still crying, but she knew that deep down, Shadow hadn't left her just yet. He was still there…still in her heart…and would be…forever.

"Oh, enough of this gushy-nonsense! Let's get home already!" Shani exclaimed, wiping her tears away.

Maya Eva smiled. "All right, if that's the way you want it…then let's GO!" with that, she pushed her friend into the portal, hearing her fading scream.

She laughed. "I'm so evil—AND I LOVE IT!" the teal echidna jumped in, doing a cannonball.

Jet and Darkness shook their heads, and exchanged glances. They waved good-bye, and then walked in at a much calmer rate.

Mira had herself at a stance, and then did a cartwheel inside.

MJ and Krystal wrapped their arms around one another's shoulders and attempted to skip happily inside, their laughter echoing.

Lee was the last. Finally, he let go of Tails, and walked backwards towards the portal, saying his good-byes. His eyes got moist as he looked at Tails once more. The two-tailed fox was saluting him. Lee smiled and saluted as well, before turning and bravely marching in.

The others waited in silence as they saw the bright portal close, leaving them in the darkness.

"Do you think we'll ever see them again, Sonic?" Tails asked, shattering the peace.

"I don't know, Tails, but I hope so…" the blue hedgehog replied. "I hope so."

……….

All was quiet…the lights were off…the room was still…

Suddenly, the door to the room burst open, and there stood a kind-looking mother.

"Mika! Are you guys all okay?" she asked.

The eight bodies stirred, and mumbled, but then one of them sat up.

"Mom?" the girl asked, almost gasping.

Mika's mother raised an eyebrow. "Of course it's me, dear. Is something wrong? I heard you all screaming and it sounded painful. Did something—"

"We're fine, Mrs. Kurosawa," Destiny chimed in. "Thank you for asking."

Mika's mother was astonished. "You…did you just…"

"What?"

Mika's mother blinked a few times, and shook her head. "Nothing…" she replied, but added silently, _Destiny never says 'thank you'!_

"Hey, mom?" Mika asked, bringing her mother's attention back to her. "Can we have some time alone?"

Mika's mother smiled and nodded. "Yes you may, dear. I was just going to tell you that it's almost time to open presents. You have fifteen more minutes to play, and then we'll get to presents, okay?"

The birthday girl nodded, and her mother left the room, closing the door behind her.

"Did…did what I just thought happened happen? Or was it just my imagination?" Bridget asked.

"I hope it wasn't…" Raquel said.

"Was it just a dream?" KT wondered out loud.

"If it were, it would be a pretty big coincidence that it we all had it," Kogome informed.

Rachael tuned out from her friends' conversation when she felt something in her hand. Slowly, she uncurled all her fingers to discover the valuable treasure Sonic had given her. She immediately curled her fingers over it, and hid it in her pocket for later use.

"But…was it real?" Tia asked, getting all her friends' attention.

The others shrugged.

Destiny's eyes fell upon Kogome's face. "It's real," she said suddenly.

"What? How do you know?" Mika asked.

Her answer was a single point from her friend. They followed where the finger was indicating, and saw the evidence. Kogome's scar.

"Yep, it was real," Bridget agreed.

A smile crept across Raquel's face. "We did it," she said quietly.

"Come again?" Rachael asked.

"We did it…we saved both sides of earth…" Raquel informed, a little louder so then everyone could hear her.

The air was filled with pride. They were heroes, now. They had saved both sides of earth…together…as friends.

Mika looked down as a single thought entered her mind.

Destiny saw this. "It's Shadow, isn't it?" she asked.

The now 12-year-old nodded sadly. A moment of silence swept over everyone.

"Well, at least _we_ know he's alive!" Bridget informed, trying to cheer up the moment.

Mika looked up, giving a small smile. "Yeah…I guess you're right," she agreed.

"MIKA! PRESENT TIME!" her mother's voice yelled.

"YAY! PRESENTS!" Bridget jumped up, and burst out the door, but she soon stopped.

"What's wrong, Bridget?" Rachael asked, coming to a stop behind her friend.

"I'm going to have to get used to not being able to run as fast as I could…" she murmured, and her friends laughed.

"Oh, get a move on! Mika's got some presents to unwrap!" with that, Rachael pushed the blonde-haired girl down the stairs playfully.

"HEY!" Bridget complained.

Rachael laughed. In fact, everyone did. It felt good to be back at home…and yet, it felt sad to be gone. But they knew that on this side of earth was where their hearts belonged.

"OPEN MINE FIRST!" Bridget exclaimed, picking hers up, and carrying it to Mika, who was now sitting in the lazy-boy.

Mika laughed. "Okay…" with that, she opened it up, and found a Shadow plushie. The birthday girl was too stunned to speak. "How did you--?"

"Lucky guess," Bridget shrugged, smiling.

"MINE NEXT!" Raquel called, and gave hers to Mika.

And it was present after present that Mika opened. But there was one thing she noticed…Rachael still hadn't given her present to her yet! In fact, when the birthday girl looked around for the faithful friend, she couldn't find her anywhere!

After she opened KT's present (the last one), Mika turned to her friends. "Have you guys seen Rachael?" she asked.

They exchanged glances, and shook their heads.

"I was wondering why it was so quiet…" Bridget murmured.

"Hey Mika!" Rachael suddenly came walking in, as if right on cue.

"Rachael! Where have you—"

"Follow me," was all the girl said, and Mika looked at the others before following.

The six other friends exchanged glances. What was Rachael up to?

Rachael led her friend out onto the front porch, and leaned against the wooden railing. Mika did the same. There was a moment of silence between them as they gazed out into the beautiful night sky.

"Mika…I _had_ a present for you…" Rachael began, fingering the object inside her pocket.

The birthday girl just listened intently, and didn't answer.

Rachael looked back up into the night sky, and continued, "…but I found something else that I thought was better."

Mika furrowed her eyebrows, turning to her friend. "What was it?"

Rachael smiled, and turned to her friend. "Close your eyes."

The birthday girl was even more curious, but did as told, concealing her excitement. Finally, she could feel a round and hard object being placed into her hand. Without thinking, she curled her fingers around it.

"Now, open," Rachael commanded.

Mika looked at her hand, and gasped. Tears came to her eyes as she was at a loss for words.

"Shadow's bracelet…but, how?" she looked up towards her smiling friend.

"Like I said: I found it," Rachael replied.

Mika let the grateful tears silently fall as she slipped it over her hand and onto her wrist—a perfect fit.

"Thank you, Rachael…this is the best gift I've ever gotten in my whole entire life," she said.

"Your welcome, Mika," Rachael replied, and the two hugged.

There was another moment of silence before…

"MIKA! RACHAEL! COME HERE, QUICK!" came KT's shrill voice.

The two exchanged worried glances before releasing the hug and running back inside.

"WE'RE UPSTAIRS! HURRY!" Tia commanded.

The two bounded up, and burst into Mika's bedroom.

"What's the matter?" Rachael asked, panting slightly.

"Look," was all Destiny said, pointing at the television screen.

Mika and Rachael walked over, and soon had expressions on their faces like their friends did. But slowly, smiles started to replace the open-mouths as their hearts swelled with pride.

There, on the screen, in white letters was a saying that our heroes knew by heart. They didn't know why it was there, but something told them that they had earned it.

"**_A new day brings a new adventure, but for now…rest easy, heroes."_**

**THE END**

Credits

Written by: krystalhedgehog

Main Characters (their creators):

Destiny/Jet……………………………………………………….Gangsta blad

Kogome/Darkness………………………………………………..Kogome

KT/Lee……………………………………………………………knucklesandTailsfan102

Mika/MJ………………………………………………………….MJ the Seal

Raquel/Krystal……………………………………………………krystalhedgehog

Bridget/Shani……………………………………………………..Sonic Heroz

Rachael/Maya Eva………………………………………………..Cocoa…Fearless?

Tia/Mira…………………………………………………………..RougeFreak

Sonic the Hedgehog……………………………………………...SEGA

Miles "Tails" Prower……………………………………………...SEGA

Amy Rose…………………………………………………………SEGA

Knuckles the Echidna……………………………………………..SEGA

Shadow the Hedgehog……………………………………………..SEGA

Rouge the Bat………………………………………………………SEGA

Dr. Eggman (Dr. Ivo Robotnik)……………………………………SEGA

Maria Robotnik……………………………………………………..SEGA

Professor Gerald Robotnik…………………………………………SEGA

Guest Characters (their creators):

Jade………………………………………………………………..Jade the Wanderer

Spicy……………………………………………………………….cesa star

Coldwing…………………………………………………………..COLDWING

Sami………………………………………………………………..samithehedgehog

Renegade…………………………………………………………..G thelegend

Sarah……………………………………………………………….dizzyboo678

Muscles…………………………………………………………….Gen.Magera1

Boom……………………………………………………………….carpet

Carlos………………………………………………………………lucha5

Special Thanks:

Jade the Wanderer for giving me the lyrics to "My Sweet Passion" and "Believe in Myself".

Google for showing me the websites that gave me the lyrics to "Live and Learn", "It Doesn't Matter", and "Escape from the City".

MJ the Seal, Jade the Wanderer, Sonic Heroz, Cocoa…Fearless, and Gangsta blad for encouraging me to continue this story.

Scotty CF for giving me the inspiration to pursue my dream of writing.

My family for tolerating my ENORMOUS time on the computer.

And everyone who reviewed (and may be still reviewing).

(No characters were harmed in the making of this story)

_Some say that everyone has a purpose; a purpose that exposes the real character inside them. Discover yours._


	16. Epilogue: returning?

It was quiet in his work area. Sitting at his cluttered desk, he knew he was at home. The only thing in place was the small sign on his desk that said, "Dominic Hendricks". He was busy drawing a character, and his pencil was very sharp, not to mention fragile. His eyes were concentrated, and only concentrated, on the figure before him that was turning out so beautiful…

All of a sudden, the door to the room burst open, and there stood one of the Dominic's students. The sudden slam of the door startled the man so much, the pencil broke. He muttered something undistinguishable, and looked up. His student looked excited.

"What is it now, Kyle?" Dominic asked.

"Sir, we just received word of something very unbelievable," the student, Kyle, replied.

The artist snickered. "Try me."

"Some children, eight of them, to be exact, were overheard to be talking about having been to Sonic's world!"

Dominic froze, as the words rang through his head. He cleared his throat. "Go on."

"Well, all we know is that, sir. We don't know if it's true or not, but…" his voice trailed off as he saw the artist in deep thought. "Sir?"

Dominic didn't reply. His mind was in a whirl.

"Sir?" Kyle tried again.

Dominic shook his head, and looked at his student. "Kyle, you and the other students may go home, now. That was enough drawing for today."

Kyle had a question, but kept it to himself. He'd been in Dominic's art lessons long enough to know that when Dominic gave a command, it was better not to ask why.

On the way home that day, Dominic's mind was producing thoughts a mile-a-minute. Was it true? Did eight kids actually go to Sonic's world? And if so, how? Well, there was only one way to find out.

Once home, Dominic at once headed to his basement, but froze when he saw the picture of his beloved wife. The widower sighed. He had loved her dearly…but it wasn't time to think about that now. There was a mystery for him to solve. With that in mind, he continued his journey to the basement.

Once there, he walked over to his computer and turned it on. After making sure everything was ready, he finally typed a secret code in, and up on the screen appeared a familiar two-tailed fox.

"Hey, Dominic! Long time no see!" Tails greeted.

"Hey, Miles," Dominic replied.

"Take that as a privilege, Dominic. I usually don't let people call me that," Tails smiled.

"Oh don't worry, I do. Now, the reason I wanted to talk to you was because I have to ask you something," the artist began.

"Yeah, what is it?" Tails asked.

"Did eight kids come to your world from Earth?"

Tails' face fell, and for a second, Dominic thought he saw a tear fall.

"Miles?" he asked.

Tails shook his head, clearing his mind out. "Yeah. But how did you know?"

"Word gets around. Now, are you absolutely sure eight kids came unto your world?" Dominic asked once more.

The fox nodded.

"What happened?" Dominic asked.

Tails took a deep breath. "Well…Eggman was at it again, and this time, he awakened Shadow…"

Dominic's eyes widened. "Sonic Adventure2: Battle…" he whispered.

Tails strained his ears. "What did you say?"

Dominic shook his head. "Nothing. I was thinking about something."

Tails furrowed his eyebrows. "Oh…well…okay…"

"Tails, can you tell me what their fancharacters looked like?" Dominic asked.

"Sure. One was a brown animal of some sort, who's name was Jet. She was the leader of the group. Then there's a teal echidna named Maya Eva. She was the faithful one. Now, one who was a bright blue hedgehog called Shani was the 'child' of the group. There also was a half-robot half-hedgehog one who was known as Mira. She was shy, but after a while, she was the encourager. Also, there was a hedgehog like Shadow, but had Amy's clothes. That was Darkness. She'd make a great lawyer someday…anyway, there also was a white hedgehog who was called Krystal. She had a pretty voice. There also was a fox that looked like me…his name was Lee. He was my best friend…" Tails cleared his throat, and then continued. "…and then there was a white seal name MJ. She fell in love with Shadow—"

"WAIT! One of them fell in love!" Dominic nearly screamed.

Slowly, Tails nodded. Dominic leaned back in his chair, laying a hand on his head.

"Dominic? What's wrong?" Tails asked.

Dominic shook his head. "Nothing, Tails. I'd better let you go. Thank you for your help."

"No problem. After all, I have to repay someone who helped us defeat Chaos, don't I?" Tails winked.

Dominic smiled. "Tails…that was years ago…when I was still married to Eva."

"It wasn't THAT long ago. More like last year," Tails informed.

Finally, Dominic agreed. "Yeah…anyways, I'll hopefully talk to you soon."

"Yeah. Bye!" the fox waved, and the connection was broken.

Dominic leaned back in his chair again, thinking about what he must do. Finally, it struck him. As he felt a weight of responsibility, he searched on the internet, hoping he could find something that would give him a lead as to who these eight kids were, from their fancharacters. He knew what would happen next. He knew it. He had to prevent it, and the only way to do it, was to send those kids back to Sonic's world, and stop Eggman's plan once again.

But he didn't pay attention to the question in the back of his head, whispering: _But what if they never come back?_


End file.
